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Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4

Puddle Jumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6

Don’t Fear the High School Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 9

No Panic High School Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 10

Visual Latin: The Best Video Latin Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 12

Co-Ops: The Inside Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14

Common Sense Solutions: Preserving Your Uniqueness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 20

Amazing Cinnamon Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22

Homeschool Spring Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 24

The Beauty of Pastels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 26

Metaphor Emerging: Learn Pysanky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 30

Crazy Cartoons: Unit Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 32

How Does a Fluorescent Light bulb Work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 38

Smart Kids Who Hate to Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 40

Five Cup Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 43

A Novel Idea: Discover the Lifelong Benefits of Living Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 44

What Makes Things Float? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 48

Techniques for the Right-Brained Learner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 50

Navigation: A Unit Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 52

With Patience & Care: Using Charlotte Mason Education with Special Needs . . . . . . Page 56

Butterfly: Color and Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 60

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 65

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Angela is a fun-loving, married to the military, homeschooling mother of four. She has four cats and a great big dog and loves her very full house. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Christian Education and holds a Bachelor’s of Arts and Science in Christian Ministries. Angela is a coffee and theology junkie and is passionate about Autism advocacy and disability rights. You can find her blogging at Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy and Home-schooling the Chaotic Mommy.

Amy is a devoted wife to her husband of 12 years, a Classical homeschooling mom to an eight-year-old Ninja and the co-founder of Heart of the Matter. As a professional genealogist, Amy has a passion for helping others trace their family roots. Amy was a partner in founding the ministries A Woman Inspired Conferences, and Inspired Hearts Media.

Robin and her family relocated from California to Colorado in 2008. With her new Rocky Mountain backdrop, she continued the mission she began in 1996 to educate her children at home. After homeschooling traditionally for more than a decade, she stepped outside of her comfort zone and began to try alternative methods for teaching. In and effort to share what she had learned through her homeschooling endeavors, she launched her website, Stone Soup Homeschool Network.

Laura has been married to her husband, Henry, for 14 years. She gave birth to four children in exactly 40 months, but cheated since the last two were twins. She now happily homeschools her 8, 6, and two 4 year-olds. She earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rice University, but finds that she uses her undergraduate Great Books education far more in her homeschooling pursuits. In addition to writing for various

homeschooling publications, she creates educational materials for edHelper. For homeschooling helps and curriculum reviews, please visit her blogs at Living as Martha & Salve Regina Homeschool.

Happily homeschooling in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for several years now. Pamela's kids are transitioning into middle school, and the lessons in their homeschool (and in life) are getting very exciting! Books, unit studies, notebooks, and nature journals are all part of their homeschooling week. She truly feels that God has blessed her family with the opportunity to homeschool and her goal is to inspire other families to homeschool greatness by pointing them in the direction of some really great books, resources and field trip ideas. Her homeschool reviews and suggestions can be found at Mustard Seed Homeschool. Her non-homeschooling reviews are on Mustard Seed Book Reviews.

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Amy Stults: Amy Stults: Amy Stults: Conference Conference Conference Director, Development ConsultantDirector, Development ConsultantDirector, Development Consultant

Angela DeRossett: Angela DeRossett: Angela DeRossett: Owner, Owner, Owner, EEEditorditorditor---ininin---ChiefChiefChief

Robin Montoya: Robin Montoya: Robin Montoya: Digital Magazine DesignerDigital Magazine DesignerDigital Magazine Designer

Laura Delgad: Laura Delgad: Laura Delgad: Digital Magazine Copy Digital Magazine Copy Digital Magazine Copy EEEditor and Writerditor and Writerditor and Writer

Pamela Swearingen: Pamela Swearingen: Pamela Swearingen: Director of ReviewsDirector of ReviewsDirector of Reviews

Photo: Stock.XCHNGPhoto: Stock.XCHNGPhoto: Stock.XCHNG

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By Katie Kubesh

Hands of a Child April showers bring May flowers...and mud puddles. What child can resist a good old fashioned splash in a springtime mud puddle? Much to a mother's dismay, however, puddle jumping can lead to wet, muddy clothes and shoes, which often end up on clean floors! When mud puddles spring up this rainy season, put down the mop (for just a bit) and see what else puddle jumping can lead to! Puddles are not only a source of foot-splashing fun, they attract small wildlife, are fun to conduct experiments with, fun to measure, fun to float things in, and great for making pies! This spring, encourage your puddle jumper(s) to explore the physical properties of mud puddles through hands-on (and sometimes feet-on) activities.

Filtering the Mud Not all mud puddles are created equal! Some are muddier than others, offering young scientists a great opportunity for testing water filters. For this experiment you simply need a couple of jars or other clear con-tainers, a variety of filters such as a coffee filter, paper towel, fabric, aquarium filter, etc, and some muddy water. Have your puddle jumper collect some muddy water in a jar. Observe how the water looks in the jar. Is the water clear or cloudy? Is there any debris such as

dirt, leaves, or even insects in the water? Next, pour some of the water through one of the filters, into a clean jar. Observe how the water looks after it has gone through the filter. Empty the jar and repeat the process with other filters to determine which one works best. A great follow-up to this activity is to visit a city water treatment plant!

Measuring Evaporation The next time puddles pool up in your neighborhood, get out a measuring tape, chalk, paper, and pencil- it's time to measure! With the measuring tape, have your puddle jumper measure the length and width of the puddle and record the measure-ments. Next, use the chalk to draw around the outer edge of the puddle. Wait one day and measure the puddle again. If you had a warm, sunny day chances are the puddle's measurements will be smaller on the second day. Discuss why the puddle is smaller and where the water went. This is a great activity for watching evaporation in action!

Measuring Mudding Footprints Keep that measuring tape out; mud puddles bring muddy footprints, so why not measure them? After your puddle jumper has had some splash time, encourage him or her to

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make some muddy footprints on a dry side-walk, an old sheet or towel, paper, or even the kitchen floor - if you don't mind cleaning it up afterwards! Measure the length and width of the footprints in inches, centimeters, and any other units of measurement you can think of. Discuss how many feet you would need to make a yard, meter, etc.

Tracking Ever wonder who tracked in the mud? Here's your chance to do a little detective work! After a rainy day, explore outside to find some foot-prints in the mud (or make your own foot-prints). Mix some plaster of Paris according to the directions on the box and pour the liquid plaster into the footprint. Let harden. When the plaster has hardened, lift it out of the foot-print. You have created a mold of a foot-print! Try this activity with more than one footprint and encourage your puddle jumper to find out who (or what) the footprint belongs to!

Puddle Jumping Sounds In the mood for a little mud puddle mu-sic? Wearing rubber boots, have your puddle jumper walk through different types of mud puddles and compare the sounds they make. Ask your puddle jumper to listen care-fully! Does a watery mud puddle make the same sound as a mucky one does? What kinds of sounds do you hear when the boots get stuck? What kinds of music can you make in the mud?

Mud Pies Before you mop that kitchen floor, how about making some delicious mud pie cookies? Some may prefer to make the cookies before heading out for some puddle jumping (that way you'll

be sure to have clean hands) and they will be ready when you are done exploring!

Mud Pie Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. milk

3 c. quick cooking oats

1/2 peanut butter

1/4 c. baking cocoa

To Make:

Combine sugar, butter, & milk in a large sauce pan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring until mix- ture boils.

Remove from heat.

Add oats, peanut butter, and baking cocoa.

Mix well.

Drop rounded spoonfuls on waxed paper.

Cool for 15-20 minutes.

Refrigerate until firm.

Mud Puddle Reading Enjoy your cookies with a few good books in-cluding The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz, Mud Puddle by Robert N. Munsch, The Mud Puddle Gang by Tyfanny Mosso, and My Mud Puddle Ran Away by Valerie Mazza or encourage your puddle jumper to create a sto-ry or poem about his or her own mud puddle adventures.

Head out this spring and explore the mud pud-dles around your neighborhood; you just might discover there is more to them than just wet, muddy footprints on your clean floor!

By Marie-Claire Moreau

Somewhere around 7th grade is when homeschooling moms and dads usually start to think about the high school years. Though many parents anticipate high school with enthusiasm, others worry they might spoil their child’s chances of entering college, winning scholarships, or having a great career if they don’t teach high school just right.

In the early days of homeschooling, this might have been a little easier to understand. When homeschooling was still young, sometimes parents worried about teaching advanced coursework and meeting statewide requirements. In fact, high school was often a time when parents would enroll teens into school thinking they would increase the chances of success.

Today, this couldn’t be any further from the truth. With so many extraordinary resources available to modern families, perhaps the most difficult thing about teaching high school now is choosing from all of the different options for teens to learn upper level material.

Modern homeschoolers have much to choose from when teaching high school today. In addition to traditional courses taught out of textbooks or from homeschool curriculum, teens also have access to online programs, virtual options, computer software, part-time enrollment in schools and colleges, free or discounted tuition at technical schools, and so much more. Parents no longer need to teach all the subjects themselves. Plus, high school

programs as well as colleges have become exceedingly homeschooler-friendly, making it simple for homeschoolers to participate and easily succeed.

As high school homeschooling has evolved, so has the role of parents in the process. Rather than being the primary teacher as parents are in earlier grades, high school signals a time when parents take on a more supervisory role. While coursework is obviously very important in high school, moms and dads become much more coordinators of the

homeschooling program and record-keepers of the experiences completed dur ing t hose years. Tracking hours and credits and ultimately producing a college-ready transcript falls upon the parents of high schoolers; thus, while a parent’s actual teaching

duties may decrease, the administrative role during high school greatly increases.

Parents approaching the high school years can take heart in knowing that homeschooling families from coast to coast are now graduating high schoolers in huge numbers, and that these graduates are exceedingly well prepared to take on the challenges of college, work, and beyond. In fact, homeschool research has shown that homeschooled graduates do better and last longer in college than other students – a testament to the fact that it really works.

So, to all of the moms and dads of homeschooled teens, “Don’t fear the high school years!”

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I love math, but don’t be intimidated. I have felt like a failure teaching my fair share of high school level classes. Literary analysis was a bomb, and art was FAR too messy for me to tolerate. I feel woefully inadequate when I hear about wonderful Socratic dialog, nature studies, and hands-on history projects. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Even with math, things were not always easy. In high school, I finally hit the wall. From the time they reached Algebra 2, I was incapable of teaching my children math. It’s OK if you feel overwhelmed with math. You know what? You don’t have to know it. You don’t have to study it. You don’t have to teach it. You just need to make sure your children learn it.

The key is choosing curriculum intended for a homeschool parent. Homeschool curriculum assumes you know nothing about the subject. School curriculum assumes you are a teacher familiar with the subject.

When shopping, look for curriculum with video tutorials that provide complete explanations for you. Look for support so your child can call a toll free number and speak to a live person when they have questions.

Parents would love to know where to purchase the best math curriculum. But it’s not about what’s fabulous. It’s about what fits. The best curriculum is the one that fits your child. It doesn’t matter if the math program is the highest rated by all reviewers if it doesn’t match your child. If your child uses a program and it’s a good fit, they will probably learn more than if it’s the top rated curriculum that they hate.

The math program that best prepares your child best is the program that helps them learn the most.

TTTeenage Whimsyeenage Whimsyeenage Whimsy As children get older, it’s not just about the parent’s teaching style and the child’s learning style. When they become teenagers, you have to add a third dimension: the student’s preference.

Teens can have some issues that may interfere with a curriculum, even though it seems like a logical choice, and we may not always know what that preference is. That’s why it’s important to seek input from your child – especially in math, and especially if they don’t like math.

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By Lee Binz

The key to choosing a high school math program is recognizing that your preferences and learning style may not be the same as your teen’s. They may learn differently and require a different program than you would choose for yourself.

Teenagers will sometimes have pet peeves and personality quirks that interfere with different textbooks and videos. A teen may be so annoyed by a person on a video tutorial that it distracts them from learning. What if they don’t like the teacher’s accent? Or they can’t stand learning from a white board? What if the imitation classroom setting drives them crazy?

For these reasons, I suggest that parents give their children choices in math. Choose some math curricula that are acceptable to you. They should have equally good, but different, math tutorials. Now here is the hard part. Allow the teen to decide. Sometimes simply the choosing will provide “ownership.” They may (hopefully) be less likely to complain when they have chosen it for themselves.

My son Kevin stunned me when he chose Saxon Math. I hated the way Saxon looked. I wanted photos, pictures, and graphic illustrations in a math book. But my son loves numbers. He liked Saxon because it had so many problems on each page, with no pictures getting in the way. I was shocked! I never thought that Saxon would be a fit for my family. Until I was desperate, it didn’t even occur to me that Saxon was an option. But when given the choice, he chose Saxon. He loved it so much that he went into engineering and continued studying math.

Compare Side By SideCompare Side By SideCompare Side By Side The strategy is simple. Find every standard homeschool math program you can find at high school level. Find their website, and locate the sample video tutorial. Open each tutorial to the same level, for example, “Algebra 1.” Then compare them, compare them with your child, and allow your child to give feedback. To us the differences may not matter, but to the teenager it might. Here is a blog post where I have done all the research for you: High School Math—Choosing Curriculum.

The problem with teenagers is that you have to match their learning style AND their preferences. Our learning style as the parent becomes less important as we become less involved in teaching. We may know their learning style, but only the teens really know their preferences. Consider having them look at another curriculum if they get stuck or frustrated or say they “hate” math. Beware, though, that all of your children may end up liking a different curriculum.

I know that homeschoolers feel very concerned about upper level math. How much harder would it be if you were a NON homeschooling parent? Imagine trying to help your child with homework when you didn’t choose the book, haven’t seen it all year, don’t have a video or an 800 number to call. What a nightmare! I sometimes hear my public school friends moaning about their difficulties with math homework. They don’t have the support systems that we have!

Remember, it is about how your STUDENT will learn best. Granted, you may not be able to force your child into LOVING math. But you can prevent them from HATING math! The key is making the curriculum fit the child.

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Visual Latin is a combination of short videos and exercises that work together to teach your children (or you) Latin. The curriculum is designed so that it requires no knowledge of Latin either by the student or the parent administering the class. Basically, you can just hit play and start learning. Each Latin lesson contains exercises in grammar, reading and sentences. This program is self-paced, so you can work through it as quickly or slowly as you need. It's portable , so you can do lessons anywhere and if you miss anything, you can just re-watch the video. Visual Latin is taught by Dwane Thomas, who was raised by a pack of wild Latin teachers near the Rubicon. Dwane has been teaching and telling jokes in Latin for 15 years."

Forget everything you’ve heard about teaching Latin in your homeschool. Visual Latin is here with a casual approach to Latin that is simple, educational and fun.

Visual Latin is a well-organized series of self-paced videos designed to introduce students to Latin vocabulary and grammar. Visual Latin utilizes an easy to understand format that consists of three segments within each lesson.

A typical Visual Latin lesson consists of three parts:

1. Video of Grammar (intro of concept), then complete a worksheet

2. Video of Sentences (putting new concept into sentences), then complete a worksheet

3. Video of Reading (listening comprehend-sion as Mr. Thomas reads from the Bible) then complete a worksheet

Each of the three videos within the lessons are approximately 5-9 minutes long and answers are supplied with the worksheets. An entire lesson should take approximately 45 minutes to complete the video sequence and the worksheets, but Visual Latin is self-paced, allowing students to view videos or complete the worksheets again if necessary.

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Pamela Swearingen

Click Here for a Visual Latin DemoClick Here for a Visual Latin DemoClick Here for a Visual Latin Demo

Visual Latin is taught by Dwane Thomas, a Latin teacher with 15 years of experience. Mr. Thomas is an excellent and patient teacher who occasionally infuses his serious Latin lessons with light-hearted jokes and puns. My family found it charming, engaging and definitely NOT boring.

At times Mr. Thomas does make mistakes with translations and such, both as he is speaking and on the chalkboard. Recorded as a “live” session, these mistakes are not edited out and Mr. Thomas corrects himself as he goes along. It can be a bit distracting, however the errors really just add to the overall casual feel of Visual Latin.

Recommended for ages 9 and up, currently the first 20 lessons are available on two DVDs or to purchase as downloads from the website for $25.00 each. Ultimately, Visual Latin does plan to produce 80 lessons. It is recommended 20 lessons per semester, which works out to 2 lessons per week for 10 weeks. Once 80 lessons are completed, a student would have 2 years of Latin instruction.

For years homeschoolers have embraced Latin studies to improve English grammar, build vocabulary and ul-timately help improve SAT scores. With this in mind, when this school year started my family invested in one of the popular (and more expensive) Latin curriculum products avail-able on the market. The

lessons of the traditional curriculum have been thorough, albeit dry and complicated. Once Visual Latin arrived in our home, we have not looked at the traditional curriculum even once. Honestly, my kids ASK to do their Latin lessons now, using Visual Latin!

Casual, accessible, not intimidating. Can you say that about your Latin experience?

For more information, please visit:

www.VisualLatin.com.

Topics covered in the first 30 lessons are available on the website at:

www.visuallatin.com/learn.

A free introductory lesson is also available at

www.Store.Compasscinema.com/products/Visual-Latin

I received Lessons 1-10 complimentary from Visual Latin in exchange for an honest review, but the opinion is all mine. We love Visual Latin and will definitely be purchasing more lessons in the future!

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What Are CoWhat Are Co--ops?ops? Are they Are they a dumping ground for moms too a dumping ground for moms too

busy to teach their children, or are they a busy to teach their children, or are they a

blessing to moms wanting innovative ideas blessing to moms wanting innovative ideas

and weekly interaction with others?and weekly interaction with others? What What

makes a successful comakes a successful co--op? This article op? This article

addresses:addresses:

Different types of coDifferent types of co--opsops

Benefits and disadvantagesBenefits and disadvantages

Starting oneStarting one

Pitfalls to AvoidPitfalls to Avoid

I’ve been involved in coI’ve been involved in co--ops since my first day ops since my first day

homeschooling back in 1991. They take time homeschooling back in 1991. They take time

and preparation. Sometimes they are and preparation. Sometimes they are

inconvenient or downright aggravating. Why inconvenient or downright aggravating. Why

did I stick with them throughout my entire did I stick with them throughout my entire

homeschool career? Because they have been homeschool career? Because they have been

such a blessing to us. Some of my boys’ such a blessing to us. Some of my boys’

favorite memories involve cofavorite memories involve co--op activities. op activities.

Mine, too! However, a group that works well Mine, too! However, a group that works well

together and provides motivation and a together and provides motivation and a

positive learning environment doesn’t positive learning environment doesn’t

happen by chance. Someone needs to happen by chance. Someone needs to

organize it. Someone needs to have a vision organize it. Someone needs to have a vision

and a plan. And someone needs to really, and and a plan. And someone needs to really, and

I mean I mean reallyreally, COMMUNICATE!, COMMUNICATE!

By Maggie HoganBy Maggie Hogan

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IImportant mportant IIssues to Decidessues to Decide There are many types of coThere are many types of co--ops. Some deci-ops. Some deci-sions need to be made right away. For ex-sions need to be made right away. For ex-ample:ample:

Academic or Enrichment?Academic or Enrichment?

Meeting Monthly or Weekly?Meeting Monthly or Weekly?

Who teaches?Who teaches?

Fees or Free?Fees or Free?

By grade, age, or other criteria?By grade, age, or other criteria?

Planning Planning -- who’s in charge? An individu-who’s in charge? An individu-al, a team, or a committee?al, a team, or a committee?

Are the teachers paid? How are supplies Are the teachers paid? How are supplies handled? (Trust me, there are always sup-handled? (Trust me, there are always sup-plies needed!)plies needed!)

If money is involved, who collects it and If money is involved, who collects it and distributes it? (Must be above reproach, ef-distributes it? (Must be above reproach, ef-ficient, and communicative!) This can get ficient, and communicative!) This can get quite complicated. Work it out ahead of quite complicated. Work it out ahead of time.time.

Who chooses teachers?Who chooses teachers?

Who chooses curriculum?Who chooses curriculum?

Homework or no homework?Homework or no homework?

If all parents teach If all parents teach -- who decides who who decides who teaches what?teaches what?

Who writes letters/communicates with Who writes letters/communicates with parents?parents?

Who substitutes for a teacher who can’t Who substitutes for a teacher who can’t make it?make it?

Who setsWho sets--up and who cleansup and who cleans--up?up?

Who resolves disagreements amongst Who resolves disagreements amongst teachers?teachers?

Where will you meet? (See chart on the Where will you meet? (See chart on the next page for comments.)next page for comments.)

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Continued on the next page...Continued on the next page...

Communication is the Key!Communication is the Key! Define coDefine co--op. Not surprisingly, it may mean op. Not surprisingly, it may mean something different to your best friend than it something different to your best friend than it means to you. Make sure everyone involved is means to you. Make sure everyone involved is on the same page. Since coon the same page. Since co--op stands for op stands for “cooperative”, the assumption is that a co“cooperative”, the assumption is that a co--op op is a group where everyone involved cois a group where everyone involved co--operates with one another to make operates with one another to make something happen. That sounds lovely but something happen. That sounds lovely but the reality is a committee is not the most the reality is a committee is not the most effective means for running coeffective means for running co--ops. I prefer ops. I prefer when starting a cowhen starting a co--op either to go it alone or op either to go it alone or to involve just one or two close friends with to involve just one or two close friends with whom I already know I work well. After it is whom I already know I work well. After it is planned and organized I then invite other planned and organized I then invite other people who buy into our vision to join us.people who buy into our vision to join us.

Consider Your Students:Consider Your Students:Consider Your Students: How many should you have?How many should you have?How many should you have?

Will they get along?Will they get along?Will they get along?

What about age ranges?What about age ranges?What about age ranges?

Do they have similar learning abilities? If Do they have similar learning abilities? If Do they have similar learning abilities? If not, how do younot, how do younot, how do you compensate teachers, compensate teachers, compensate teachers, helpers, hosts for their time?helpers, hosts for their time?helpers, hosts for their time?

Consider your parents:Consider your parents:Consider your parents: Compatible worldviews?Compatible worldviews?Compatible worldviews?

Compatible educational philosophies?Compatible educational philosophies?Compatible educational philosophies?

Working towards the same coWorking towards the same coWorking towards the same co---op goals?op goals?op goals?

Wow! There is so much to think about. But Wow! There is so much to think about. But Wow! There is so much to think about. But lest you get discouraged let me offer this list lest you get discouraged let me offer this list lest you get discouraged let me offer this list that several of us compiled showing some of that several of us compiled showing some of that several of us compiled showing some of the reasons we cothe reasons we cothe reasons we co---op.op.op.

Benefits to CoBenefits to CoBenefits to Co---Oping:Oping:Oping: Structure.Structure.Structure.

Accountability.Accountability.Accountability.

Carefully chosen group interaction (aka Carefully chosen group interaction (aka Carefully chosen group interaction (aka socialization!).socialization!).socialization!).

Children learn to learn under different Children learn to learn under different Children learn to learn under different teaching styles.teaching styles.teaching styles.

Children learn to cooperate with children Children learn to cooperate with children Children learn to cooperate with children outside their family.outside their family.outside their family.

Children learn traditional classroom Children learn traditional classroom Children learn traditional classroom manners (raising hands, etc.).manners (raising hands, etc.).manners (raising hands, etc.).

Sharing the teaching load.Sharing the teaching load.Sharing the teaching load.

A support group for moms.A support group for moms.A support group for moms.

For older students, it provides a great For older students, it provides a great discussion group for literature and creative discussion group for literature and creative writing.writing.

Sense of identity or belonging.Sense of identity or belonging.

Can be more fun and exciting to do Can be more fun and exciting to do projects and activities in a larger group projects and activities in a larger group setting.setting.

A little competition is beneficial for some A little competition is beneficial for some students. It may help them to try harder or students. It may help them to try harder or do their best work when they know others do their best work when they know others will see it.will see it.

May provide a sense of stability during May provide a sense of stability during tough family times: chronic illness in tough family times: chronic illness in family, difficult pregnancy, move, job loss, family, difficult pregnancy, move, job loss, etc.etc.

Teachers may work harder to prepare Teachers may work harder to prepare lessons because of teaching to a group.lessons because of teaching to a group.

May bring out the best in teachers.May bring out the best in teachers.

May provide the motivation to keep on May provide the motivation to keep on going.going.

Helpful when a student truly desires to “go Helpful when a student truly desires to “go to school.” A coto school.” A co--op can be a useful op can be a useful compromise.compromise.

Great for high school: teaching labs, Great for high school: teaching labs, languages, and having inlanguages, and having in--depth discussions depth discussions in literature, government, etc.in literature, government, etc.

LocationLocation HomeHome ChurchChurch

Pros:Pros: Cozy, convenient, and free.Cozy, convenient, and free. Classroom space, tables, chairs, neutral Classroom space, tables, chairs, neutral

territory, gym or kitchen space may be territory, gym or kitchen space may be

available.available.

Cons:Cons: Wear & tear on house, sick Wear & tear on house, sick

kids, lack of privacy, ground kids, lack of privacy, ground

rules important.rules important.

Church relations may be strained. How do Church relations may be strained. How do

you pay? What about damages? Cleanyou pay? What about damages? Clean--up up

& contact people are vital!& contact people are vital!

P. 16P. 16P. 16 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Disadvantages of CoDisadvantages of Co--OpingOping Unrealistic or unmet expectations. (I want Unrealistic or unmet expectations. (I want more . . . I want less . . . .I want . . .)more . . . I want less . . . .I want . . .)

Parents surrender control of certain Parents surrender control of certain subjects to someone else.subjects to someone else.

May not like other teacher’s choice of May not like other teacher’s choice of materials or teaching style.materials or teaching style.

Children are influenced by other children. Children are influenced by other children. Socialization again!Socialization again!

Dealing with the discipline of others’ Dealing with the discipline of others’ children. Very touchy!children. Very touchy!

Integrating students who do not interact Integrating students who do not interact well with others.well with others.

When money is involved problems may When money is involved problems may arise. Guidelines should be written down arise. Guidelines should be written down and observed.and observed.

Sacrifice of time: preparation time and coSacrifice of time: preparation time and co--op day itself. (It always takes more time op day itself. (It always takes more time than I think!)than I think!)

Some teachers work harder than others Some teachers work harder than others which may lead to resentment.which may lead to resentment.

Weekly time commitment to be out of Weekly time commitment to be out of your home as well as preparing for class your home as well as preparing for class and correcting papers.and correcting papers.

Feels too much like trying to reinvent Feels too much like trying to reinvent “school.”“school.”

Letter Letter FFrom a Friend rom a Friend My friend Beth had organized an elementary My friend Beth had organized an elementary level colevel co--op for several years. Her kids went op for several years. Her kids went into high school, they moved, and her into high school, they moved, and her husband changed jobs. They enrolled their husband changed jobs. They enrolled their children into a private Christian school. I children into a private Christian school. I asked her to reflect on her years of coasked her to reflect on her years of co--oping. oping. This is what she wrote me:This is what she wrote me:

""Dear Maggie,Dear Maggie,

You asked what I would do the same or do You asked what I would do the same or do differently in regards to codifferently in regards to co--ops if I were ops if I were starting over.starting over.

Five things I would do again:Five things I would do again:

Insist that all those who have their Insist that all those who have their children in the cochildren in the co--op work, whether op work, whether teaching, babysitting, or bookkeeping.teaching, babysitting, or bookkeeping.

Limit the number of children to 10 in Limit the number of children to 10 in each class.each class.

Only have children participate that are Only have children participate that are "referred" by someone I trust."referred" by someone I trust.

Not have it in anyone's home. A neutral Not have it in anyone's home. A neutral place was better for us.place was better for us.

Have one person or a small group of Have one person or a small group of people in charge of the curriculum. Too people in charge of the curriculum. Too many cooks spoil the broth!many cooks spoil the broth!

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 17P. 17P. 17

Advice from my friend Betsy Advice from my friend Betsy Don’t do it because you want the easy way Don’t do it because you want the easy way out.out.

Don’t do it out of peer pressure (from your Don’t do it out of peer pressure (from your friends or your kids’ friends!).friends or your kids’ friends!).

Don’t do it because of a lack of confidence.Don’t do it because of a lack of confidence.

Do it when you know it is the right thing for Do it when you know it is the right thing for you and your children.you and your children.

TTips for a Successful Coips for a Successful Co--op op Pray.Pray.

Plan.Plan.

Organize.Organize.

Communicate.Communicate.

Choose teachers wisely. Just because Choose teachers wisely. Just because someone is both willing and knowledgeable someone is both willing and knowledgeable doesn’t mean they will be good teachers. doesn’t mean they will be good teachers.

Questions to consider concerning teachers:Questions to consider concerning teachers:

Do they like kids and have a good rapport Do they like kids and have a good rapport with them?with them?

Do they communicate effectively with Do they communicate effectively with both kids andboth kids and parents?parents?

Will they follow through?Will they follow through?

Are they organized enough to do a good Are they organized enough to do a good job?job?

Do they handle conflicts in a Biblical Do they handle conflicts in a Biblical fashion?fashion?

Are they knowledgeable (or at least Are they knowledgeable (or at least teachable) in the fieldteachable) in the field they will be they will be instructing?instructing?

Be discerning in your choice of a “treasurer” Be discerning in your choice of a “treasurer” to handle all the finances.to handle all the finances.

Take personalities into account (both kids and Take personalities into account (both kids and parents).parents).

Expect the best but plan for the worst.Expect the best but plan for the worst.

12 Steps to Co12 Steps to Co--op Planningop Planning Pray.Pray.

Decide your goalsDecide your goals

What kind of coWhat kind of co--op will meet those goals?op will meet those goals?

Whom would you like to involve?Whom would you like to involve?

Who’s in charge?Who’s in charge?

Make plans. Call meetings.Make plans. Call meetings.

A. Organizational: Brainstorm. Flesh out A. Organizational: Brainstorm. Flesh out specifics. (Probably need two specifics. (Probably need two meetings.)meetings.)

Where, when, how, what, supplies, Where, when, how, what, supplies, curriculum, etc.curriculum, etc.

Write up all agreements and get copies Write up all agreements and get copies to everyone!to everyone!

B. Informational B. Informational -- if involving people not if involving people not at first meeting. Important distinction at first meeting. Important distinction -- are they registering or applying?are they registering or applying?

PrePre--meeting with kids and parents before meeting with kids and parents before first day of class. Go through expectations, first day of class. Go through expectations, rules, etc. very carefully. Communicate!rules, etc. very carefully. Communicate!

First day of class First day of class -- smile! (We open in smile! (We open in prayer and discuss coprayer and discuss co--op manners.)op manners.)

Keep people informed Keep people informed -- communicate communicate some more!some more!

Don’t let problems simmer. Deal with Don’t let problems simmer. Deal with issues as soon as possible.issues as soon as possible.

Pray some more.Pray some more.

Have fun Have fun -- attitude is almost everything!attitude is almost everything!

Lastly, several of the books I have coLastly, several of the books I have co--authored authored were written specifically for my cowere written specifically for my co--ops. You ops. You might find these useful in yours, as well!might find these useful in yours, as well!

The Ultimate Geography and Timeline The Ultimate Geography and Timeline GuideGuide

HandsHands--On GeographyOn Geography

Young Scholars Guide to ComposersYoung Scholars Guide to Composers

I've also used All American History and The I've also used All American History and The Mystery of History series. These are great coMystery of History series. These are great co--op books!op books!

P. 18P. 18P. 18 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

By Debbie Strayer and Dr. Ruth BeechickBy Debbie Strayer and Dr. Ruth Beechick

P. 20P. 20P. 20 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Homeschooling today can seem

complicated. Even though I am an author

of curriculum and a veteran homeschooler,

my head can still spin when walking

through a large vendor hall at a

convention, or when looking at all the

resources available on line. As curriculum

fair season begins, please allow us to offer

some advice.

Be guided by peace.

Even the very best curriculum out there is

no good if it doesn't fit your children and

your family. Homeschoolers need to

remember those in history, like the parents

of Orville and Wilbur Wright, whose

mother didn't try to make them like

everyone else. She sought to strengthen

their character and encourage their talents.

Don't abandon the way your child learns

best just to fit in at a co-op or support

group.

Trust yourself.

You are the homeschooling parent of your

child for a reason. You bring certain unique

qualities and passions to your home-

schooling, and in the big scheme of things,

your child needs what's in you.

Again, trust your proclivity as a family.

Take your talents and abilities as encourage

-ment to pass those things along to your

children, not to just conform to what

education may have looked like for you as

a child or for others today.

Trust the plan for your child.

There are many temptations today to

sacrifice what is best for your child in favor

of what seems to produce quick success.

Short-term impressiveness is not our goal;

a life-long enjoyment of learning is. Here,

maturity is often more important than

method. Remember that there are many

ways to prepare for academics and life.

Choose the path that brings your child a

sense of purpose and fulfillment. Find the

one that fits your child, rather than

changing your child to fit a certain path.

When the homeschooling movement

began in America, the thing that was most

treasured was our liberty to educate in a

way that best fit our families. Today there

is a great deal of pressure to impress

others with our homeschooling. Let's be

sure to stay true to our individuality as

families and pass on that love of liberty to

the next generation of homeschoolers.

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 21P. 21P. 21

By Jenny Penton

These are the most amazing cinnamon rolls on the planet. They are made very conveniently with my bread recipe. Whenever I have my baking day and am baking my bread, I always make enough to make some cinnamon rolls.

Homemade White Bread & Cinnamon Roll Recipe Makes two loaves of white bread.

Combine in mixer:

3 cups warm water

2 pkgs. of yeast

2 tbsp. honey or sugar

Let your yeast dissolve and proof in your mixer, about 5 minutes

While waiting, in large bowl combine:

7 cups of flour

¾ cup of dry milk

¼ cup bran

¼ cup wheat germ

Combine in mixer bowl on medium speed for 3 minutes:

4 tsp. salt with 3 cups of flour mixture

When mixing is complete:

Add 2 tbsp. vegetable oil with 3 more cups flour

P. 22P. 22P. 22 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Incorporate on medium speed, adding any remaining flour until it forms a soft ball. On floured surface, place your bread dough on the counter, and using the heel of the palm of your hand, knead the dough. Turn the dough each time to form a smooth ball, adding more flour if needed.

Put into a greased bowl and cover with clean dishtowel. Let rise until doubled, about one hour. Punch down and let rise again for ½ hour.

Turn oven on to 350 degrees.

Punch down dough and lay on floured surface. Roll out dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. It should be tall and wide for rolling. Spread about 1/2 stick softened butter on the rolled dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Begin with the dough that is closest to you and begin rolling up making tight rolls. Take your hands and work your way to the ends to ensure you stay even with your dough until the end. Once rolled up, make sure you pinch the dough end to the roll to keep tight and sealed.

Spray a non-stick baking sheet and set aside. With a serrated knife cut the cinnamon log into 1/4 inch pieces and place on baking sheet. I keep mine all snug in the baking sheet and let rise until doubled, about 20 minutes.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until baked through and golden brown.

Vanilla Icing: 3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 tbs. vanilla extract

Combine in a large bowl and whisk until thick and creamy.

When rolls come out of the oven, spread thick icing all over the rolls. Don't even wait a second...dig in!

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 23P. 23P. 23

By Bethany LeBedzBy Bethany LeBedz

P. 24P. 24P. 24 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

when they’re close to their stables and pick

up the pace, so we homeschoolers can smell

the end of the school year. Spring is in the air

(in the northern hemisphere, anyway) and

kids aren’t the only ones getting antsy for

pool days to replace school days.

I don’t know what happens at your house, but at my house when spring fever strikes, it’s nearly fatal. The girls beg to do school outside, which means that academics really don’t get done, which might not be too bad if your kids aren’t in high school and middle school like mine are. They get lazy about filing their papers in their binders. I get lazy about finishing lesson plans. We all get lazy about portfolios and records. Yikes! How’s a homeschool mom to stay organized amidst this malady? We need to spring clean our homeschools!

How do we spring clean our homeschools? We need to tame the paper monsters, take care of the filing, clean off the shelves, make room for the new stuff, and throw open the windows (unless you have pollen allergies).

Let’s get out the trashcans and shredders and start sorting through all of our kids’ school papers. Even the most unschooling among us have a plethora of math worksheets, essay papers, and artistic masterpieces. Just keep a small sampling of each child’s work to save in a portfolio and throw out the rest. Realistically, we can only save so much. You may have to do this after their bedtime, but you’ll feel better with the paper piles eliminated.

Next, we need to take care of our own filing.

How many magazine articles, recipes, and random notes do we have piled up on our desks, counters, or to-be-filed boxes? It’s time to deal with one pile or box at a time and put all those papers where they belong. We may find that we can trash a good many of them by now as well, such as old invitations and reminders.

As our children finish up workbooks, textbooks, living books, and computer programs, it’s time to either sell them, or set them aside in a designated spot for the next child in line. If the youngest child has finished something, pass it along or sell it to someone who can use it. This frees up space in your own home for needed newer items. Nothing says spring cleaning like out with the old and in with the new. I also have one whole shelf that is specifically for in between curricula. When I’m making up my lists of materials needed for the following year, I only need to look at one shelf to see if I already have it. While we’re there, let’s make sure that all of the other living and reference books are neat and in the proper order.

Now that all the academic papers are neatly put into portfolios, all of the mom papers are filed in binders or folders, and all of the bookshelves are cleared off and organized, we have room for all of that great, new curricula and all of those new books we’re buying at curriculum fairs, used book sales, and online.

The end of the school year is in sight; let’s be prepared for it. We’ve spring cleaned our homeschools; it’s time to throw open the windows, put the dandelions picked by the little ones in a vase, and celebrate spring!

Just as horses know

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 25P. 25P. 25

Whenever I am creating something, I make a mess. Whether it is baking our favorite cookies, culling through clutter, or painting a room, my adult mess spreads far and wide.

Wouldn’t you say it is a given that art is messy as well? Children’s art? Blessedly messy! This is precisely why I’m sharing what has become more than a year-long habit of happy, beautiful messes in our home.

Back last February, Nana was snowed in with us. On that day, she taught the children their first chalk pastel art lesson. She taught all five of my children – everyone around the kitchen table. Since then, we’ve asked for more! We’ve enjoyed eighteen of her teaching times. Sometimes it’s a seasonal snowman. Other times I ask that her lesson match our current nature study on weather or butterflies.

Maybe it’s a Sketch Tuesday topic. Plus, she also brings surprises: A mug of hot chocolate or a tornado!

By Tricia Hodges

P. 26P. 26P. 26 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Image: Stock.XCHNG

Before Nana taught us, we didn’t know how

to use chalk pastels. She shared the simplici-

ty and just how blessedly messy pastels can

be! See, she is a master artist, taking les-

sons herself. She translates new techniques

she’s learned into something new and un-

derstandable for us. We’ve learned about

blind contour, ‘fisting in,’ and ‘skumbling.’

The point is that chalk pastels are fun. We all

enjoy them – from the teenager to the pre-

schooler. Pastels are also forgiving! If you

don’t particularly like a certain mark, just

use your finger and smudge it away. Start

new. Make that mark into something else.

I’ve included here a very simple pastel les-

son on a universally loved subject, macaroni

and cheese. Mac and cheese is a mainstay in

our home and a true comfort food when

cooked in the slow cooker.

Before the children started, Nana drew the

eight simple steps for making a bowl full of

macaroni and cheese. The blue and orange

together is so appealing.

(Continued on the following page…)

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 27P. 27P. 27

First, gather brilliant blue, orange and brown

chalk sticks. Three colors are all you need for this!

We used printer paper because that is what

we had on hand. The children followed

Nana's steps. Just like making your real

macaroni and cheese lunch, fix your bowl

first and add in the noodles last.

Feel free to make your noodles as simple or

as detailed as you'd like. It's your bowl full!

Next, take your finger tip and blend the blue

of your bowl. Soften the edges. Sometimes

when adding a background, we use the

bottom of our fist - 'fisting in' and blending a

color. Maybe you would like to add a bit of

brown table for your bowl to rest on. Just

blend some color underneath your bowl.

That’s all! Each of Nana’s lessons take around 15 minutes at most.

What do you think? Are you considering adding chalk pastels to your art palette? Nana’s advice is to start small. A basic student set can be purchased for less than $10 and shared by the family.

Not sure about the smudgy mess? Moms

that are scared of a mess beware. We keep

the baby wipes handy, don a smock or wear

something we don’t mind getting stained.

With practice, we've found pastels are easy

to pull out to enjoy and quick to clean up

afterwards.

P. 28P. 28P. 28 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Maybe you might consider just using pastels for a certain aspect of your homeschool. We found we enjoy them for nature journal sketching. The rich colors capture what we see outside very well. We’ve drawn clouds, trees, night blooming flowers, Queen Anne’s lace, sunflowers, a sunset, and more.

Making ‘sky holes’ in Nana’s Tree tutorial.

I hope macaroni and cheese whet your appetite.

At Hodgepodge, I’ve compiled 17 of Nana’s free pastel lessons in photo tutorial form. See Pastels Plus Links to Tutorials.

Don’t worry. Nana shares her expertise and coaches on types of paper, where to purchase supplies, and storage, too. She also is familiar with a homeschooler’s budget.

But don't just take it from me. Here's what one homeschool mother shared with me:

“Ok, I have to tell you, I am NOT an art teacher… not even close. The most my kids ever do with art is maybe a hands on history lesson with coloring pages and some minor drawing. I have now ventured into teaching them art WITH NANA! We completed lesson one in pastels this morning, and it was fabulous! She is inspiring a love of art in a family that knows nothing of it! Thank you so much for sharing your precious mother with us all.” ~ Lori Lange, homeschool mom of 5 @ Abnormal Herd

Won’t you join us in this new found joy in our homeschool?

By Kimberly Bredberg By Kimberly Bredberg By Kimberly Bredberg

P. 30P. 30P. 30 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Kindergarten Evelyn walked through my

front door followed by her dad, video

camera in hand. Her mom shot me the

glance, “It’s time!” This year, Evelyn is a

high school graduate. I closed the book on

her transcript back in December. Recently

she taught me how to connect the dots:

Ever since I was introduced to pysanky egg making many years ago, I have been hooked. When Easter rolls around I have my friends over to create these brilliantly dyed eggs. Every year I get better and better and learn more helpful techniques. This year I was so obsessed with making eggs I would stay up „till midnight painstakingly scratching on eggs with a wooden kiska.

Ukrainian egg making teaches patience. It‟s a quiet, slow, endeavor but all the hard work and patience pays off. My favorite part of the process is when, after hours of work, I finally get to melt off the black wax with a candle and reveal the masterpiece!

A few years ago we suffered a pysanky egg tragedy: years worth of eggs had been left on the kitchen table while we were out to dinner one night. We returned to a floor covered in smashed eggshells. Our dog Jack had smelled the eggs and jumped onto a chair to get to the top of the table. He crushed them all.

My mom cried. She‟s never gotten over the loss. I, on the other hand, just wanted to punt Jack down the staircase.

Slowly we have begun to build up our pysanky egg collection…

I remember being on a Patricia Polacco roll

one spring. After reading Rechinka’s Eggs to

our group, Evelyn’s mom, Sara, chimes in,

“We can do that.”

The next thing I know we are blowing the

insides out of eggs and teaching our

primary aged children the art of batik. I find

it interesting that the Ukrainian word

“pysanky” comes from the verb “pysaty”

which means to write. So picture teaching a

group of 12 or so under ten-year-olds

gathered in my kitchen to write with wax

on eggshells! Did I mention that there is fire

involved in this activity? Yes, that’s right,

fire.

Here’s the deal: children are capable. Was

this activity chaotic? You bet. But not once

did it cross my mind that this group of

children was too young to engage in a

sophisticated craft. Looking back, those

young children proved that focus is not the

issue. Children possess an incredible store

of focus power, but we deny them

opportunity to demonstrate their prowess

when we don’t believe in their ability to

engage in complex tasks.

The art of pysanky teaches patience, true.

When pure white shells—a tiny surface of

potential—are painstakingly decorated,

individuality emerges. All I can say is that

this poet teacher sees a metaphor

emerging. To learn more about pysanky go

to: LearnPysanky.com

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 31P. 31P. 31

This wonderful unit study excerpt was provided for you, free, by Amanda Bennett at UnitStudy.com. Enjoy!

P. 32P. 32P. 32 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are getting very popular. They produce a lot of light using only a little bit of energy, so they save on electricity costs and reduce the amount of electricity we consume. But how are they different from regular light bulbs? The best way to learn the answer to that question is to do an experiment.

You will need three things:

A compact fluorescent light bulb (often called an “energy-saving fluorescent bulb”)

A balloon

A dim (but not completely dark) room

Once you have those things, here’s what you should do:

1. Blow up the balloon and tie it off.

2. Go into the room with the balloon and the bulb, and make the room very dim.

3. Rub the top of the balloon back and forth in your hair several times.

4. Point the bulb towards the balloon as shown in the picture and then move the balloon back and forth. What happens in the bulb?

5. If you didn’t see anything happen in the bulb, your room might not be dim enough, or

your hair might not be clean enough. Try dimming the room more and try using someone else’s hair.

6. Hold the balloon still near the bulb. Notice that the only time you see the effect is when the balloon is moving.

7. Put everything away.

What went on in the experiment? Why did moving a balloon back and forth cause the light bulb to glow? You can try this experiment all you want with a regular light bulb, which is called an “incandescent (in’ kuhn des’ ant) light bulb,” but it will never glow. This only works with a compact fluorescent light bulb. Why?

An incandescent light bulb works because the electricity in the light socket forces tiny charged particles called “electrons” to move through the thin wire inside the bulb (that wire is called the “filament”). When that happens, the wire gets very hot. In fact, it gets so hot that it glows brightly, producing the light that comes from the bulb. This is an easy way to make light, but it wastes a lot of energy. After all, the filament has to get very hot, so the light bulb is using a lot of energy just to heat the filament. If there were some way to make light without heating up a filament, light bulbs would use less energy.

An Experiment by Dr. Jay Wile

P. 38P. 38P. 38 April 2011April 2011April 2011 Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter

Image: Stock.XCHNG

That’s what compact fluorescent light bulbs do. Instead of using a filament, a compact fluorescent light bulb is filled with mercury gas. When it is put in a light socket, the electricity in the socket causes electrons to move around in that gas. Those electrons crash into mercury atoms, and the crash gives the mercury atoms more energy. However, most things in nature prefer to stay in their lowest-energy state, so the mercury atoms really don’t want to have that extra energy. To get rid of it, they emit light.

Is that the light you see coming from the light bulb? No. Mercury emits light that is not visible to the human eye. However, that invisible light ends up hitting the wall of the tube that holds the gas. The tube is painted with a very special white paint, called a “phosphor” (fos’ fur). When the phosphor gets hit with the light from the mercury, it gets the energy that was in the light. Once again, however, most things in nature want to stay in their lowest-energy state, so the phosphor gets rid of the energy it gained by emitting visible light, and that’s the light you see coming from the light bulb.

In your experiment, the balloon took the place of the electrical socket. When you rubbed the balloon in your hair, it collected electrons, becoming electrically charged. Anything that is electrically charged produces an electrical force. So the balloon was producing an electrical force, and when you moved the balloon, that force caused electrons inside the light bulb’s gas to move. That, of course, caused them to crash into mercury atoms, which caused the mercury atoms to emit invisible light, and when that invisible light hit the phosphor, it caused the light bulb to glow.

There are two very important things to note about this experiment. First, the light bulb lit

up only when the balloon was moving. When you held the balloon still, there was no glow from the light bulb. Why? Because light is a form of energy, and you cannot create energy out of nothing. In order to make light, you must get the energy from somewhere. In the experiment, you used the electrical force to convert the energy in the motion of the charged balloon into energy in the form of electrons moving inside the gas. That energy was then converted to the energy of the light you saw by the process I just des-cribed. Without moving the balloon, there was just no energy to convert into light, so the light bulb could not glow.

The other important thing to note about this experiment is how little energy it took to get the light bulb to glow. The light bulb didn’t glow as much as when you put it in a light socket, because the electricity in the light socket contains a lot more energy than what you could put in the motion of the balloon. Nevertheless, you could easily see the glow, even though you were just waving the balloon back and forth.

Now think about an incandescent light bulb. It also works by moving electrons. It moves electrons through the filament until the filament gets hot enough to glow. However, no matter how hard you try, you will never get an incandescent light bulb to glow by moving a charged balloon back and forth over it. Even though you are moving electrons in the filament when you move the charged balloon, there just isn’t enough energy in that motion to heat the filament to the point where it will glow. That’s why compact fluorescent light bulbs use very little energy. Since no energy is spent heating something up, even a small amount of energy will cause the light bulb to glow.

Heart of the MatterHeart of the MatterHeart of the Matter April 2011 April 2011 April 2011 P. 39P. 39P. 39

The GREAT DEBATE occurs every year: “Am I expecting too much of my child, or not enough?" "Is this groaning and moaning about writing just a discipline problem, or 'character issue', or is there really a problem here?" Common comments I hear from home school moms are:

"She can tell me the answers orally well, but then it takes her an hour to write it down!"

"When he writes his spelling words to learn them, he leaves letters out of the words."

"If he dictates to me, the story is great, but he can’t write it himself.”

“His dad says that he’s just lazy and unmotivated. He can do his work if he really tries.”

One of the most common and most misdiagnosed processing problems in children is a blocked writing gate. This is the number one processing glitch in gifted children. Many of these children seem to be “allergic” to their pencil. They break out in whining as soon as they get a pencil or pen in their hand.

Let’s look at what is happening in the brain of this child when he is asked to write something. God designed our left brain hemisphere to concentrate on learning a new task, such as driving a car, or riding a bike. After some concentrated practice, that task is then supposed to transfer over the brain midline into the right brain which is responsible for the automaticity of the process. If we imagine the left brain hemisphere as the “Concentrating Brain” and the right hemisphere as the “Automatic Brain,” we can see how this transfer allows us to “think and do” at the same time. Generally, when we teach a child how to write, after six months of practice that writing crosses over into the automatic brain hemisphere so the child can “think and write” at the same time. For many children, this transfer does not easily occur.

By Dianne Craft, MA, CNHPBy Dianne Craft, MA, CNHPBy Dianne Craft, MA, CNHP

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Thus, they have to expend much more battery energy, or level of concentration, to a writing task than other children. Dr. Mel Levine in his book, One Mind at a Time, calls these learning blocks, “energy leaks.”

This particular blocked learning gate or “energy leak” can be called a grapho-motor processing problem, a visual/motor integration problem, a fine motor problem, or dysgraphia.

This often explains the mystery of why many children learn their spelling words easily by writing them in a workbook or writing them five times each, and another child can write his words hundreds of times and still not store the spelling word in his long term memory. Now we realize that this struggling child has to use his “battery energy” just for the writing process, so the spelling words cannot be transferred into the right brain, where our long term memory is stored. Thus, the method of copying to learn is totally ineffective for this child. Our job is to recognize this, and to help him open up his writing gate. This can easily be done in the home setting.

Further Investigation Let’s look at some of the symptoms these children who have a blocked writing gate are presenting to us daily:

Frequent or occasional reversals in letters (after age 7)

Makes many letters from bottom to top (vertical reversals)

Writing is very labor intensive

Copying is poor, takes a long time…or is like artwork

Mixes capital and small letters in writing

Great stories orally, but writes very little

Does all math problem mentally to avoid writing them down

Lining up numbers in multiplication or division is difficult

No child has all of these characteristics, but if your child has several, you may consider that this is an area that he or she is struggling in.

Compensation When a parent recognizes that her child has a blocked learning gate, and is just not being sloppy or resistant to writing without a reason, then steps can be taken to alleviate some of the writing burden on the child until the problem can be corrected.

Reduce the amount of writing a child needs to do during the day. Do more answers for chapter questions orally. Limit the amount of writing in workbooks.

Reduce or eliminate copying for 3-4 months. Save the child’s “battery energy” for writing paragraphs or papers and doing math.

Use another method of learning spelling words that does not include writing either in a workbook or multiple times. Right Brain Spelling, using a child’s photographic memory, is an excellent way to teach spelling without writing. (Diannecraft.org)

Teach the child keyboarding for some writing projects. However, it is important to remember that most children who have dysgraphia also find keyboarding quickly quite labor intensive also, so it is not a complete answer.

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Correction It is important to not just compensate for this writing glitch, but to also to take steps to elimi-nate it so the child can experience fluency in the writing process. There are various meth-ods that can be successfully used at home to correct this writing processing problem. Here is the method I found to be the least expen-sive, while being the most effective for elimi-nating dysgraphia or any writing or visual/spatial glitch:

1. The DVD, “Smart Kids Who Hate to Write” (www.diannecraft.org), demonstrates a daily exercise to do at home that crosses the midline to open the child’s writing gate which increases writing fluency and eliminates rever-sals. This daily 15 minute exercise rehabilitates the Visual/Spatial system. No more left/right confusion!

2. If your child has more than just the writ-ing gate blocked (such as visual/reading rever-sals, or auditory processing problems) then you might want to get the more thorough Brain Integration Therapy Manual with its home programs.

Conclusion A child can have a learning glitch, or block in a learning gate, that causes him to struggle eve-ryday with schoolwork, without the parents’ knowledge. Using some simple checklists, the parent can identify this problem and design the school day to be less frustrating. More im-portantly, the parent can avail herself of all the wonderful corrective techniques available so that the child does not need to struggle with the burden of having to work so hard at writ-ing, or with a dysgraphia. God has wonderful answers for us. He leads us in so many ways, and we are ever grateful!

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Any size cup can be used as long as the same one is used throughout the recipe.

To minimize mess, before you start put the cup on a baking sheet; then any spills will go onto the sheet.

Measure out 1 cup of each of the following into a large bowl:

Raisins or dried mixed fruit

Self-rising flour

Sugar

All Bran Cereal

Milk

Stir until everything is well mixed.

Pour into a greased loaf tin, the size of the tin

depends on the size of the cup you used.

Bake at 190 degrees Celsius (editor’s note:

the equivalent temperature is 375 degrees

Fahrenheit) for about 40 minutes. Cooking

time will vary depending on the size of the

cup you used. To check for doneness, insert a

toothpick into the center of the cake; if it

comes out clean, it is cooked.

Allow to cool, and then slice. The cake can be

eaten as is or with butter.

I have a printout for download HEREHEREHERE...

TTThis is a family favorite, and my son has been his is a family favorite, and my son has been his is a family favorite, and my son has been making it pretty much by himself since he was making it pretty much by himself since he was making it pretty much by himself since he was three three three --- with the exception of using the hot oven!with the exception of using the hot oven!with the exception of using the hot oven!

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By Sarita Holzmann of By Sarita Holzmann of By Sarita Holzmann of Sonlight CurriculumSonlight CurriculumSonlight Curriculum

Children love stories. Imagine a talented storyteller with eager children gathered around her. What would happen if she stopped a tale at the most exciting part? The children would exclaim, "Keep going! What happens next?"

Literature-based learning is an educational philosophy based on children's natural curiosity and love for stories. Outstanding books and delightful stories form the centerpiece for learning.

Jesus knew the value of stories, too. When he wanted to teach the crowds, he told memorable parables with interesting characters. He didn't quote from dry textbook-like tomes, but instead turned to the power of story to engage his listeners. And it worked!

My best kept homeschool curriculum "secret" comes down to this: I believe most children respond more positively to great literature than they do to textbooks. Books — quality books — can distill the wisdom of an entire life into the span of a few pages. They can feed us with spiritual insight beyond imagination. Whether written by Christians or non-Christians, great books help us to develop critical thinking skills.

These benefits of great literature inspired me to build a Christian homeschool curriculum on quality books that present content in a highly engaging fashion. Once a good book grabs your child's attention, you'll find that the educational process becomes relatively painless — because your children will actually want to read!

Here are a few benefits you might find as you teach through living books.

When you engage your children with great literature, you:

Create memorable connections that last a lifetime. As you read together, you

establish great memories you will reference for years to come. If your family has read The House at Pooh Corner, a simple walk over a bridge might trigger the idea to play Poohsticks. As you race twigs downstream, you not only make a new memory, you’re all “insiders” to a special secret because you share a reference point from the story.

Forge emotional bonds and en-courage heart to heart discussion. Great books often evoke deep emotions. Sharing those emotions together is a bonding experience for your family — whether you shake with belly-laughs or mourn the loss of a special character through tears.

I believe the shared emotional journey through books led my family to a culture of openness with one another. We can talk about anything; no subject is off limits. My husband and I still have very close relationships and vibrant conversations with our grown children. I also made a point of intentionally handing my husband emotional books so that my children could see that it’s okay for a man to cry.

I believe this intimacy and empathy was forged as we read together and engaged in deep discussion.

Books that call forth emotion not only bond you together as a family, they also enable you to identify with, and thus, respond appropriately from the heart to, the plight of the characters you meet. When you live life through the character in a book, you’re more likely to consider all sides of an issue because you will be forced to view the world through that character’s perspective — a perspective likely different from your own.

Bring up topics you may not think of discussing otherwise. Reading a wide

array of literature leads to discussions that are not part of our normal lives. They add depth and variety to our conversations and lead us to consider ideas from different angles. I would prefer my kids learn about the problems of gangs and violence vicariously through a book like The Outsiders than experience that for themselves. I would rather my kids learn the anguish of war through books than through video games that don’t illustrate the ramifications of life or death decisions. And I would rather be there to discuss these things with them than have them thinking about and trying to figure out an appropriate response on their own during a period in their lives when they are apart from me or under someone else’s tutelage.

Involve dad. Reading great books aloud is a

fabulous way for a father to be involved in the homeschooling experience. I fondly remember all four of our kids scrunched together on our love seat listening to my husband John read every evening. What a powerful and precious heritage for a dad to give his kids!

Make history come alive. Imagine the thunder of horse hooves and the wind on your face during Paul Revere’s ride. Children remember what they’ve experienced first-hand. And historical fiction and other engaging literature make history come alive in a way that the facts and dates alone simply can’t. Reading a well-written novel set in the Great Depression will create a much more memorable impression than will reading any quantity of literature about the Great Depression contained in a textbook. Living life through the character of a book creates empathy and draws your children into an unforgettable story that touches their imaginations and emotions.

Spend less time memorizing dates. Historical fiction and biographies help kids understand the context of events and ideas instead of just a list of dates. This contextual knowledge helps them triangulate dates when needed. Of course, it’s not bad to teach important dates, but give the whole story and you place natural markers in your children’s minds that help them make sense of history. A grandfather and grandson were talking about an event from the early 20th century. The grandfather remarked afterward how astonished he was that his grandson worked out almost to the year when the event occurred by reasoning: “Let’s see. It had to have been before ____, because ____. But it would have had to have occurred after ____ because _____.” Clearly, the grandson had a thorough knowledge of the broader currents of history . . . primarily because he had been reading great historical literature. He hadn’t memorized the date. He knew it innately.

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Benefit from international travel for

fractions of pennies on the dollar. When you enter the world of good books, you

can bring your kids to China on an ordinary

weekday and still be home for lunch. You can witness the Yangtze River flood a whole city

when you read Yang Fu of the Upper Yangtze.

Travel through the dense fog of the Himalayan trails and walk down through lush valleys as

you visit the plains of India, an opportunity

most of us may never experience. In Secret of the Andes, you can experience the harsh living

conditions young Cusi endures, as well as the

beauty of his culture. You could read Daughter of the Mountains and learn about the Buddhist

traditions of Momo, a girl who cries out

fervently with her prayer wheel each day,

hoping Buddha will wake and hear her. Books are the best way to experience parts of the

world you may never visit.

Learn random facts vicariously. When

I was a girl, I learned how to treat poisonous snake bites from the Trixie Belden series. Later

I learned about measuring latitude and

longitude from Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. Literate people gain general knowledge about

the world in the process of enjoying good

books.

Broaden your children’s vocabulary

painlessly. They may not pronounce the

words correctly at first, but you can be sure

they are absorbing new words! I distinctly

remember reading Dickens to our family one year. The word my son Luke picked up on was

“pecuniary.” He used it in his speech and in his

writing and I was amazed that my 13-year-old was correctly using words like that on a regular

basis.

Develop your children’s listening skills. As children listen to compelling stories

(even if they are on the floor playing with toys during the reading) they learn to listen painlessly. You may be amazed at the details your children can recall! Children can listen to books at a higher level than they are able to read for themselves.

Create fertile ground for character development. Books provide natural

opportunities to stop and discuss the choices the characters are making. For example, the children in Number the Stars don’t get along well. What a great opportunity to talk about how you want to treat each other differently in your family. Quality books also provide your children with heroes worth imitating. As characters do great things through courage, perseverance, and wisdom, your children will want to imitate them.

Enhance writing skills. Reading good

writing can give kids a sense of how to shape their own messages. Ben Franklin taught himself to write well through copying great writers. Regular exposure to great books helps children naturally become familiar with the concepts of plot, scene-setting, and creating powerful hooks at the beginning of a story — all elements they can use to make their own writing more effective.

Gain cultural literacy. In his book Cultural

Literacy, E.D. Hirsch outlines what’s missing in today’s educational system. Modern students who aren’t exposed to a wide variety of literature often can’t identify the simplest references from classical literature or history. They are missing key information that could help them understand their own context and function as informed citizens.

"To be culturally literate," Hirsch says, "is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world." Readers must understand the writer's unspoken "systems of associations." We use literary references in everyday life all the time, often without thinking about where they originated. When you talk about “Big Brother,” a “Cinderella story,” a “siren song,” or someone’s “Achilles heel,” you’re alluding to stories that have shaped our culture. Beyond recognizing references, your students will learn to understand the big ideas from the past that shape who we are today and where we are going.

Give your children favorite books they will enjoy reading again and again. You never know which book will

become the well-loved favorite with the weathered cover.

Gain too many additional benefits to list! The benefits of teaching your children

with great literature go on and on. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that reading as a center of your schooling may help

steer your children clear of the detrimental effects of television.

reduce discipline problems because the kids are enjoying learning.

motivate you, the teacher, with captivating content.

Finally, making the most of great literature means learning can be fun. If you raise children who love to read,

they can learn anything. You equip them to be

life-long learners who carry a thirst for knowledge as a part of their legacy long after school days are done.

What simple steps can you take to help your children benefit from great books? Here are three you can try today:

Have your children read every day. Set an example and be caught

reading. Read together as a family.

Mix up your genres. If you have a

daughter who just reads horse books or a boy who only likes comic books, help them branch out a little with a historical biography, poetry, or science fiction. They may discover new favorite genres!

Create a home library full of books just waiting to be picked up and read. Make the treasure and

pleasure of reading a core value in your home.

Home libraries hold many benefits. An extensive new study shows that "A child from a family rich in books is 19 percentage points more likely to complete university than a comparable child growing up without a home library."[1] In fact, the size of a home library greatly affects educational attainment, "even adjusting for parents' education."

Who knew those great books in your home were doing so much good? May you enjoy your homeschool and your precious times of reading with your children.

[1] "Home Libraries Provide Huge Educational Advantage," April 2010. Accessed at www.miller-mccune.com in April 2010.

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Have you ever looked at a big ship and wondered how it floats on water? After all, it’s made of metal. Doesn’t metal sink? Well, let’s do an experiment to see if we can figure this out.

What you will need: Aluminum foil

Ten pennies (More if you want to do the “optional” part at the end)

Scissors

A sink with a plug

Water

What you should do: Cut two squares out

of aluminum foil, each about 3 inches by 3 inches. The exact size is not important. It is more important that they are both the same size.

Take one of the squares and fold two of the edges so that a small “wall” is formed on each side, as shown in the top picture on the right.

Fold the other two edges so that the entire piece of foil now has a “wall” surrounding it, as shown in the bottom picture. Do not cut anything to make the wall. Just fold the foil to make the corners. As the bottom picture on the right shows, this doesn’t need to be a work of art. It just needs to be a “tray” made out of aluminum foil with an unbroken “wall” surrounding the entire tray.

Put five pennies in the other foil square and then wad the foil around them tightly so you have a wad of aluminum foil that contains five pennies.

Take the wad, the other five pennies, and the aluminum foil tray to the sink.

Plug the sink and put a few inches of water in it.

Drop the pennies wrapped in foil into the water. What happens?

Set the tray on the water so that the bottom of the tray is touching the water and the wall around the tray is above the water. The tray should float.

Start putting pennies in the tray one at a time. Can you put all five pennies in the tray without the tray sinking?

OPTIONAL: See how many pennies you can put in the tray before it sinks.

Clean up your mess and put everything away.

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What did you see in the experiment? If things What did you see in the experiment? If things went well, you saw the wad of foil wrapped went well, you saw the wad of foil wrapped around the pennies sink rapidly in the water. around the pennies sink rapidly in the water. However, when you sat the aluminum foil However, when you sat the aluminum foil “tray” on the water, it floated. Even after you “tray” on the water, it floated. Even after you added five pennies to the tray, it still floated. added five pennies to the tray, it still floated.

If you did the optional part of the experiment, If you did the optional part of the experiment, it probably took more than ten pennies to sink it probably took more than ten pennies to sink the aluminum foil tray.the aluminum foil tray.

Now think about the wad of foil and the tray Now think about the wad of foil and the tray of foil. Once you added the five pennies to of foil. Once you added the five pennies to the tray, it weighed exactly as much as the five the tray, it weighed exactly as much as the five pennies that were wrapped in the wad of foil. pennies that were wrapped in the wad of foil. After all, both the tray and the wad were After all, both the tray and the wad were made out of the same amount of aluminum made out of the same amount of aluminum foil, and they each had five pennies in them. foil, and they each had five pennies in them. The wad sank, but the tray floated. Why?The wad sank, but the tray floated. Why?

Well, there are a couple of things you need to Well, there are a couple of things you need to realize about the experiment. First, while realize about the experiment. First, while both the wad and the tray had the same both the wad and the tray had the same weightweight, they did not have the same volume. , they did not have the same volume. Now before we go on, I need to make sure you Now before we go on, I need to make sure you know what “volume” really means. In know what “volume” really means. In science, volume is not a measure of sound. It science, volume is not a measure of sound. It is a measure of how much room an object is a measure of how much room an object takes up. When an object takes up a lot of takes up. When an object takes up a lot of room, it has a lot of volume. When it takes up room, it has a lot of volume. When it takes up only a small amount of room, it has a small only a small amount of room, it has a small volume. volume.

Now if you think about the five pennies Now if you think about the five pennies wrapped in the wad of foil, they didn’t take up wrapped in the wad of foil, they didn’t take up much space. So the weight of the five pennies much space. So the weight of the five pennies and the aluminum foil was concentrated in a and the aluminum foil was concentrated in a small volume. The tray, however, took up a small volume. The tray, however, took up a lot more space. When five pennies were lot more space. When five pennies were added to the tray, it all weighed as much as added to the tray, it all weighed as much as the five pennies wrapped in the wad, but that the five pennies wrapped in the wad, but that weight was distributed in a much larger weight was distributed in a much larger volume.volume.

How does this relate to why the tray floated How does this relate to why the tray floated and the wad of pennies sank? Well, in order and the wad of pennies sank? Well, in order to sink in water, an object must push the to sink in water, an object must push the water out of the way. After all, if it is going to water out of the way. After all, if it is going to sink, it needs to move through the water. In sink, it needs to move through the water. In

order to move, it must first push the water order to move, it must first push the water that is already there out of the way. If you are that is already there out of the way. If you are in a crowd of people who are packed together in a crowd of people who are packed together so tightly that you cannot squeeze in between so tightly that you cannot squeeze in between them, what do you need to do in order to them, what do you need to do in order to move through the crowd? You have to move through the crowd? You have to politely ask people to move out of your way politely ask people to move out of your way so that you can get through. In the same way, so that you can get through. In the same way, to sink, an object must get the water to move to sink, an object must get the water to move out of the way so it can move through the out of the way so it can move through the water. It can’t politely ask the water to move, water. It can’t politely ask the water to move, so it mush shove the water out of the way.so it mush shove the water out of the way.

Well, the water doesn’t necessarily want to Well, the water doesn’t necessarily want to move. In order to shove the water out of the move. In order to shove the water out of the way, then, the object that is trying to sink way, then, the object that is trying to sink must be able to shove the water pretty hard. must be able to shove the water pretty hard. It can do this if it weighs more than the water It can do this if it weighs more than the water it is trying to move. In order to sink, then, an it is trying to move. In order to sink, then, an object must be heavier than the water that it object must be heavier than the water that it has to move.has to move.

Think about the five pennies wrapped in foil. Think about the five pennies wrapped in foil. In order to sink, it had to move some water, In order to sink, it had to move some water, but because it didn’t take up much space, it but because it didn’t take up much space, it didn’t have to shove much water out of the didn’t have to shove much water out of the way. Since the wad of foil weighed more than way. Since the wad of foil weighed more than the water it needed to shove out of the way, it the water it needed to shove out of the way, it sank. Now think about the tray. It weighed sank. Now think about the tray. It weighed the same as the wad once the five pennies the same as the wad once the five pennies were added, but because the tray took up so were added, but because the tray took up so much room, it had to shove more water out of much room, it had to shove more water out of the way. It wasn’t as heavy as all that water, the way. It wasn’t as heavy as all that water, so it could not sink. Instead, it floated.so it could not sink. Instead, it floated.

So whether or not an object floats depends on So whether or not an object floats depends on two things: its weight and its volume. If the two things: its weight and its volume. If the object is heavier than an equal volume of object is heavier than an equal volume of water, it will sink. Otherwise, it will float. water, it will sink. Otherwise, it will float. This why a ship floats, even though it is made This why a ship floats, even though it is made of metal. The ship is very heavy, but it is also of metal. The ship is very heavy, but it is also purposely designed to take up a purposely designed to take up a lotlot of space. of space. If you compare its weight to the weight of an If you compare its weight to the weight of an equal volume of water, you will find that the equal volume of water, you will find that the ship is ship is a lota lot lighter. Since it is lighter than an lighter. Since it is lighter than an equal volume of water, it can’t shove enough equal volume of water, it can’t shove enough water out of the way to sink. As a result, it water out of the way to sink. As a result, it floats. floats.

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There are a variety of labels out there for children who predominantly function with the right hemisphere of their brain: ADD, dyslexic, or dysgraphic are a few. Labels aside, these children are typically very strong in their ability to think spatially, analytically and creatively. They can experience deep compassion and demonstrate amazing humor. They can be playful, big-picture, physical kids. And teaching them can be filled with challenges.

My nine-year-old son is extremely right brained. Not only has he struggled to read for several years, but I’ve also noticed recently that he’s slowly growing more discouraged with math. I called on a right-brain tutor to give me some new techniques not only to boost my son’s ability to read and compute, but to boost his self-esteem and believe the truth about himself -- that’s he’s a truly smart kid.

If your young child is strongly right-brained, there are some techniques to use that may help.

Make it visual.. If your right-brained child can’t visualize it, he or she can’t learn it. I incorporate as many hands-on activities as I can think of: experiments, cut and paste, candy counting,

jumping on the answer (written on a card on the floor) art techniques and all kinds of construction. For foreign language we use The Learnables on computer. My son doesn’t have to read a single word, he just sees the picture and listens to the Pronunciation. Together we listen (very hard sometimes) to find out just how the word is said and, because it’s illustrated, he can file that picture into his head with the word. It’s a much easier association for him.

Use color.. Because they are so visual, any enhancement you can make to your curriculum with color will help them retain information. We regularly use Horizons for math because it’s so colorful (and I cross out about half of the problems). When writing vocabulary words, I now write each syllable in a different color. This helps my son get and retain a visual snapshot of the word.

Don’t drill.. Doing the same type of math problem over and over again discourages my son. I give him just a few math problems for practice, but then I give him a few that get increasingly harder: 2x20, now 2x220, now 20x220. This allows him to find a pattern and once he’s figured it out, he can just keep following the pattern to complete harder and harder problems. This actually inspires him to want to do more.

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By Debra Anderson

Get a movie going in his head.

When you sit down to work on your child’s reading instruct him or her to read silently and say, “Think about what you’re reading by turning it into a movie in your head.”After my son completes a page, I can skim the page and ask him some comprehension ques-tions. He typically gets them all correct.

Here are a few more quick techniques to help your right-brained child with visualization:

Spelling

STEP ONE: Write out a word using different

colored markers for each syllable. Read it to

your child. Let them look at it as long as they

want in order to get a clear picture of it in

their head. When ready, take the paper away

and ask your child to spell the word aloud for

you.

STEP TWO: Ask your child to spell it back-

wards for you. If they are truly right-brained

it can be done! It amazed me.

STEP THREE: Ask your child to tell you how

many vowels are in the word. Right-brained

kids often don’t hear the vowels in words,

but with this technique my son is learning to

see them and thus remember them.

STEP FOUR: Do this with harder and harder

words, a few words a day.

Sequencing

Tell your child to close his eyes and imagine a scene that you describe out loud. For just a

minute or two, verbally walk your child through a forest, a library or wherever you want. Have him imagine picking up one or two items and describe to him how those items might make him feel. When you’re done, have him or her tell you back the scene with as much detail as they can think of. There’s no right answer. Your child will get better and better as you practice.

Reading Reading aloud uses different brain function than reading silently. While it’s a very strong temptation always to have your struggling reader read aloud to you, incorporate silent reading as well. Using whatever book they are reading at the moment, let your child read aloud to you just a paragraph. If he or she hesitates on a word, tell them what it is. This way your child will file away its cor-rect pronunciation the first time. After that, switch off reading sentences aloud, first you, then your child. Anticipate the hard words and tell your child what they are, and then let her read a page silently. When done, skim it and ask your child a few comprehension questions.

Teaching a right-brained child doesn’t have to be painful if we stay tuned to their strengths and styles. If you’re using left-brain (sequential, linear, logical) techniques with your right-brained child, try using tips like these to ease some of the struggles. In our experience, my son feels less stressed, less hopeless and more intelligent. I feel like I’m using his strengths to build up his weaknesses and I can see him gaining ground. My right-brained learner feels like learning is more fun and, hopefully, yours will too.

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A few years ago we did a family study on World Exploration. What a grand time we had traveling all over the world and learning about who these men were and where and why they voyaged! One of the most exciting parts of this unit was navigation. Since then, we’ve done a number of navigation explorations which my kids always enjoy. Our kids almost never leave home without their orienteering compasses. I have the privilege of knowing which direction I’m headed at all times. As we head into spring and summer, what could be more fun than having a navigational adventure of your own?

Books on Navigation:

Fiction:

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne – The story of a man and his servant to take a bet to travel around the world in 80 days.

The Captain’s Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith and Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark by Gail Langer Karwoski

Carry On Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham about Nathaniel Bowditch who was the first American Navigator and wrote a book called The American Practical Navigator still used by maritime navigators today. It was the first American publication on navigation. My kids really loved this book.

Non-Fiction:

The American Practical Navigator by Nathaniel Bowditch. We actually borrowed this one from a local university library. My husband was inspired from the biography to read the book on navigation that Nathaniel Bowditch wrote.

Kaleidoscope Kids Lewis and Clark- this one tells facts about the duo in addition to having activities relating to this great American expedition.

The Story of Maps and Navigation by Anita Ganeri

Tools of Navigation: A Kid’s Guide to the History and Science of Finding Your Way by Rachel Dickinson. This one is a favorite of mine focusing on the history of navigation and the tools used. There is also a section on activities and information about explorers.

The Basic Essentials of Map and Compass by Cliff Jacobson

Wilderness Navigator by David Seidman and Paul Cleveland- written as a hiker survival guide with some great tips on using a compass.

Activities:

Compass Sighting - also known as triangulation - which is using two points to determine your location using a compass, a map, and a pencil. We did this last summer with our kids at Lake Ontario. The kids had a great time following directions.

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The Institute of Navigation has a chart of les-sons available as well including detailed in-structions on how to do Triangulation. We do this often using trail maps while we are hiking.

Our next sighting activity will be finding a spe-cific spot on a map rather than finding where we are on the map using the local ball fields and sight lines to specific objects on the field.

Make your own compass- to find magnetic north or south (depending on where you live) We made our own compass using a needle, a cork, a magnet, and a dish of water when we were studying Explorers. Here’s how to make t h e c o m p a s s : 1. Run a magnet over the needle a few times, always in the same direction. This will magnet-ize the needle. Put the needle through a piece of cork.

2. Float the cork and needle in your cup of wa-ter so the floating needle lies roughly parallel to the surface of the water.

3. Place your 'compass' on a still surface and watch what happens. The needle should turn to point towards the nearest magnetic pole - north or south as the case may be.

4. If you want to investigate further, place a magnet near your compass and watch what happens. How close/far does the magnet have to be to have an effect?

Use a sextant- to sight the North Star to meas-ure your latitude. You can determine this using the maximum height of the sun during the day

and the maximum height of the North Star at night. It is easiest to do this on a beach (large lake or ocean) where you can site off the water, but you can do it in your backyard using a level as well. The trick is finding a sextant!

Dead Reckoning- used by Lewis and Clark. This method is dependent on being able to make continuous measurements of course and dis-tance traveled. You start at a known point and measure your course and distance from the point on a chart. Your course is measured by a compass and your distance is determined by the speed of the vessel times the time traveled.

We plan to try out a dead reckoning exercise in the ball fields a few blocks away from our home. The plan is to have the kids walk paces in particular directions and have them find an object (like a coupon to our local ice cream stand).

Use GPS- if you have access to a handheld GPS unit, you can have your kids use the GPS to find a waypoint (a set of coordinates that identify a point).

Determine magnetic deviation- the error of a compass due to magnetic deviation. On our fer-ry ride from the US to Kingston, Ontario, last summer (across the St. Laurence Seaway) we attempted to test our compasses for magnetic deviation. Apparently, there is an anomaly in the Kingston Harbor which causes a compass to turn away from magnetic north. If you don’t find yourself in Kingston Harbor, you can just run a magnet near your compass and see what happens. What does this mean for navigators?

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Use a chip log—to determine boat speed.

A chip log is a piece of wood tied to a rope which has knots at regular intervals. See if you can research how to use the knots in the rope to determine nautical speed in knots!

Map the sky—learn to recognize

constellations through the seasons and see how navigators used the stars to stay on course.

Navigation where you are—how was your state

or area explored? Here in NY, Henry Hudson was among the first Europeans to explore NY. Who explored where you live? Study more about him. Where was he from? Who traveled with him? What navigational tools did he have at the time?

Determine Magnetic Declination— this is the difference between magnetic north (or south) on your compass and true north (south). This will vary depending both on where you are and over time. You can usually find the magnetic declination on USGS maps for wilderness or navigational use. We have one of some local forest lands which include the magnetic declination as part of the map’s key. If you can’t find out specifically what it is where you are, just investigate what it means and how to find out what it is and why it’s important.

A quick web search revealed lots of

resources on navigation:

A long time favorite of mine is Google Earth

and there is a great website on using the program in the classroom.

Google Earth Lessons – a great resource for using Google Earth in the classroom and homeschools. Lessons are organized in various manners depending on how you want your student to use them. Student controlled lessons are great for homeschoolers.

One example from Google Earth Lessons related to navigation is Drake’s Circumnavigation which is a virtual tour of this first trip around the world. There’s information including primary sources to learn more about this incredible feat. Students can even make their own Google Earth tour of the circumnavigation using the raw data they are given.

There is a lot to explore on this website which I’m sure Google Earth enthusiasts will enjoy!

You can use Google Earth to find latitude and longitude from National Geographic Expedi-tions.

Find out more about marine navigation from NOAA using a nautical chart to plot a course.

One of the things I really enjoy about a unit study is that it doesn’t take a lot of time and preparation to research a topic and see what comes from it. Some of our best homeschooling moments come from investigating an interest. I hope that what I’ve shared with you in this study will inspire you and your family to enjoy some time exploring together using some navigational techniques.

Bon voyage!

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Mary Jane hears a tapping sound coming from the direction of her son, David, who has spastic cystic fibrosis. He cannot roll, sit, walk or speak; yet he is enjoying reading. The tap is his signal for mom to turn the page. Chris’ seventeen-year old son, Tim, has fetal alcohol syndrome He experiences difficulty focusing on tasks. Chris uses great literature and frequent lessons changes. Chris’ other son, eleven-year old Steven, has dysgraphia, yet does copywork quite well, if it is read aloud.

Cheri is at the bookstore buying great literature in hardback because the print is larger and works better for her son, who struggles with writing and reading. Megan watches the clock and changes lessons every five minutes for her ADHD child. Mary Ellen is overseeing her daughter, who has a brain disorder, draw and write in her nature journal.

What do all these mothers have in common? They are homeschooling their special needs child using Charlotte Mason’s methods. Moreover, they will tell you that using CM methods transformed their homeschools.

What is a Charlotte Mason education?

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a British reformer and pioneer in the field of education. Her concept of “living books and real life experiences” influenced many educators in Great Britain. Mason believed children’s minds

were no different from their bodies; both require a highly nutritious, varied diet. The proper diet of the mind, she taught, is ideas, the best and the greatest ideas from the finest literature. Hence, the concept of “living books,” books of a high literary quality, by an author with a passion for the subject, who makes the information or story come alive.

Ms. Mason expressed her educational principles in the motto, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” By this she meant that when the atmosphere in the teaching home is positive, realistic, and non-judgmental the child can learn. When the discipline of good habits, such as attention, concentration, truthfulness, self-control, and unselfishness are in place, they foster learning. Moreover, when life is embraced as an opportunity for learning, then education can encompass many things including living ideas found in great books, Scripture, and the lives of worthy people and life experiences.

Charlotte Mason was aware of the needs of children with learning disabilities. Then, as now, there were children who needed individual help to learn. She encouraged a stress-free atmosphere, simple hands-on materials, plenty of outdoors time and a gentle, loving approach to instruction. Dr. Downes, a friend of Charlotte Mason, expressed it beautifully:

By Jim and Sheila Carroll, Living Books Curriculum, Previously published in The LINK Homeschool Magazine

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“Only let us have patience; let us make allowance for their difficulties; let us begin with concrete rather than abstract ideas; let us develop their bodies; and through their games and recreations let us try to find some portal to the slumbering intellect; above all, let us watch over their moral nature with even greater jealousy than we do in the case of ordinary children.” The Parents' Review, Volume VII, Nov. 4, 1897

How do homeschooling mothers today use Charlotte Mason’s methods with their special needs children? We decided to ask them. We went to an online parent support group to invite mothers to volunteer to be interviewed. Six mothers agreed. Each received seven questions. The overriding consensus was that Charlotte Mason’s methods are not only helpful but essential to success with their special needs child. We share with you the results of the interview:

What are your child’s special needs?

Each mother has at least one special needs child and some mothers have more than one. The disorders of their children are moderate to severe and include autism, Asperger Syndrome, quadriplegic cystic fibrosis, ADHD, delayed speech, CAPD—a central auditory processing disorder—and dysgraphia and dyslexia.

How did you learn about the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason?

Most said they learned of CM through online discussion groups. Parents of special needs children often find there is no one in their community or circle of friends who can understand or help. They learn to be proactive by asking questions and researching where

they can to get the help and information they need. Online discussion groups are one way to fill this critical need.

Has CM helped you to homeschool your special needs child?

The overwhelming response was “yes.” Megan explained that CM helped her to see her child as a whole person. Cheri said, “So many CM techniques are based on the way children learn…and they are especially effective with special needs kids.”

Mary Jane felt that CM reinforced what she already felt in her heart, “Yes. I believe the one thing her philosophy did for me was reinforce what I had already been led by the Lord to do with my very special, vulnerable child, and that is mostly a relaxed teaching and learning environment where we can use our own home and life experiences to educate him.”

What kind of adjustments is necessary for you to use a living books method?

Most mothers felt they needed to adapt or adjust their child’s work in order to meet a specific learning need. Cheri, mentioned earlier, says, “We never use a textbook. I knew from the start it would not work with my child.” Instead, she buys hardback books because the print is larger as an aid to her child who has visual discrimination difficulties.

Mary Jane, whose son David is quadriplegic, finds that tapping out a response using a device positioned on his head enables him to learn grammar and oral expression. “As he attempts to say something on his device, we get the idea, then go back and model the appropriate way of saying it.”

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Another mom, Tammy, said concerning her

autistic daughter, “Language delays hinder

Pamela from saying all she knows. Glimpses

of her inner life fortify my faith. For example,

when we read the reunion of Miriam and Su-

sanna in Calico Captive, Pamela squealed

with delight. Her reaction gave me evidence

of things not seen. She borrows phrases from

books to use as part of her oral self-

stimulation, which later blossoms into useful

language.”

Which of the following methods do you use

regularly: living books, narration, nature

study, habit training, picture study, copy

work, dictation, and short lessons?

Living books

All those interviewed indicated that they use

high-quality literature, often reading aloud

for all lessons. Tammy emphasized, “They are

the basis of all our schooling.”

Narration

Cheri adapted the use of “…day-after narra-

tions. When we first started, my child needed

time to process the story, so I did what I call

‘day after’ narrations. This allowed my child

time to think through the story and give a

much more effective narration. Now, after a

few years of practice, my child is able to give

narrations as soon as the reading is finished.”

Tammy thought she was not effective in using

narration, until she discovered “there are two

big steps in narration: reading to know and

telling what you know.” By breaking down the

process into two parts, Tammy was able to

help her daughter bridge the gap by first fo-

cusing on understanding, then on telling.

Maryellen found narration helped her special

needs child “to go over information in his

mind and to organize and sequence infor-

mation, which used to be a challenge area.”

Nature study

Frequent times in the out-of-doors and close study of some natural tree, plant or animal is a key experience in CM education. Many spe-cial needs children do well with this very hands-on activity. However, keeping a nature journal was often less successful because many special needs children have trouble with fine motor skills and attention to detail.

One mother used it as the basis for science study; another found that looking out the back window to see the nature there could be a form of nature study. All agreed it was chal-lenging to get outside regularly because of other demands and commitments.

Habit Training

Habit training is especially important with special needs children. Cheri points out that they "crave" structure, since they tend to have poor organizational skills. Maryellen found Charlotte Mason’s teaching on habit training changed her life as it gave her the un-derstanding how to train her children in help-ful habits both in the family circle and in learning.

Staying on task and finishing work was one habit in particular that many found im-portant. Cheri creates a lesson plan with a schedule organized around 15-30 minute seg-ments for her middle school child. “Having him know what’s coming next is a huge help and is a way of helping him achieve a level of responsibility for his own work.”

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Picture Study

Charlotte Mason recommended all children learn to enjoy great art. In the PNEU schools, students would live with a good reproduction of a well-know work or art for a week or so, taking in every detail. Then the picture would be covered and the children were to describe it from memory.

Not all mothers did picture study, but those that did found their homeschooling experi-ence considerably enriched. A variation of picture study that Cheri uses is to “make art cards and allow the children to play games, like Old Maid and Concentration. It is amaz-ing how the children will form their own rela-tionships with the pictures just by playing games with them.”

Copywork and dictation

Charlotte Mason encouraged taking selec-tions for copywork and dictation from the lit-erature currently being studied. For Maryellen’s daughter copywork is one of her strong areas. “It gives her a clear picture of what is expected. We sometimes use sand on a cookie sheet to do the copywork.” However, Tammy’s daughter Pamela does dictation or copywork as part of a specialized language instruction program to teach new language structure. Tammy hopes later to move into using living books.

Short Lessons

Charlotte Mason recommended lessons be no more than ten minutes in length for a child under the age of eight and twenty minutes for the elementary years. Each lesson should be as different as possible from the one be-fore. When the lessons are short and varied, a child’s interest is usually fresh and ready for what comes next.

Mary Jane found this was something that

came naturally. “This we have always done. I

have to look for opportune times to teach

something, make the point, and work for a

little bit of feedback.” Tammy agrees. “Short

lessons are critical for the special needs child.

It helps keep their minds fresh for the task

and limits the amount of frustration for chal-

lenging subjects and tasks. I split math into

two short lessons, twice a day just so she

would not feel bogged down by too long of a

lesson but she needed more practice.” Megan

saw short lessons were a huge help. “I some-

times use 5-minute lessons. Breaking it down

into small, learning chunks is essential.”

Patience and care

For these mothers the best approach is a

Charlotte Mason education. It encourages a

relaxed atmosphere, literature to enjoy, de-

velopmentally appropriate learning tasks and

teaching to their child’s strengths. It was an

honor to know these mothers and learn of

their struggles and triumphs. We saw the

strongest factor ensuring success was the

mothers themselves. Their patience and care

and their willingness to work tirelessly on be-

half of their child was a moving testament to

the power of love.

If you would like to read more on how parents

of Charlotte Mason’s PNEU School viewed

learning disabilities, see “Backward Children”,

The Parent’s Review, Volume VIII, No. 4, 1987,

pgs. 255-263 and “The History of a Backward

Child”, The Parents’ Review, Volume III, No. 8;

1892-1893; page 600-609. Both of these arti-

cles are online at Ambleside Online,

http://www.amblesideonline.org/PR.shtm

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PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:

Students will simulate and observe how pattern and color can provide butterflies with protection in different settings.

OVERVIEW

Pattern and color play an important part in how butterflies protect themselves from predators. The following activity will give you an opportunity to create butterflies that show mimicry through camouflage or through warning/poison.

MIMICRY – is copying another creature’s natural defenses. The caterpillar or butterfly will mimic the color pattern, form or behavior of another creature or object in nature. Mimicry can help keep the caterpillar or butterfly remains safe or can help the creature in its search for food.

There are three main types of mimicry: Batesian, Muellerian and Self mimicry.

The following is a definition of Batesian & Muellerian mimicry.

Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon when two or more harmful species, that may or may not be closely related and share one or more common predators, have come to mimic each other's warning signals. It is named after the German naturalist Fritz Müller, who first proposed the concept in 1878.[2][3]

It can be contrasted with Batesian mimicry, where a harmless organism imitating the protected species is referred to as the mimic and the dangerous one being imitated the model. Müllerian mimicry differs because both parties are harmful; each mimics the other species, while serving as a model at the same time.

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCllerian_mimicry

One of the best examples of Batesian mimicry is the toxic tasting monarch butterfly and its mim-ic the viceroy butterfly. The viceroy mimics the “aposematic” color pattern of the monarch, but it is not toxic.

MATERIALS: Scissors Magic markers “Butterfly” logbook & pen Pictures of butterflies Clear stick pins

Copy machine

1 copy of the butterfly pattern sheet Watercolor paper Watercolor paints – (Various colors, both bright Warning) colors and natural shades (Continued on the following page)

By Jean Henrich, www.Enrichment4You.com

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PROCEDURE

WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF AN ADULT:

1. Make 1 copy of the butterfly pattern at the end of this article. Enlarge and reduce this pattern to represent different sizes of butterflies.

2. Look at pictures of butterfly wings and then select different water color combinations that represent. Shown below are examples of the different colors. We selected shades of brown, green, orange, and black.

3. Decorate the surface of the watercolor paper by dropping different colors onto the dampened paper. Fold the pattern sheet over and “squish” the two sides together. Unfold the sheets and let dry.

4. Create “symmetrical” patterns using the camouflage and warning colors paints.

5. Make at least 3 butterflies featuring “camouflage” coloring. Vary the shades.

6. Make at least 3 butterflies featuring “warning” coloring. Vary the shades.

EXAMPLES OF WARNING COLORS

Bright combinations of black,

red, Orange, yellow, and blue

EXAMPLES OF CAMOUFLAGE COLORS

Shades of nature - browns, greens etc

.

PROCEDURE

7. Fold the watercolor paper in half again. Position the previously cut butterfly on one half of the folded sheet of paper and cut out the shape.

8. Look at pictures of butterfly wings that feature camouflage

and warning colors. Recreate the patterns using magic markers, crayons or paint. For example, draw in the “veins” and spots of the different species. Draw in the center body of the butterflies with appropriate colors.

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Once you have made all your butterflies, write a different number and either a letter (W) for warning or a (C) for cam-ouflage on the back of each butterfly. For example, 1C or 1W. We used 1C for Butterfly #1 and camouflage.

10. Select one place at a time and place all the butterflies at the same time in one of the following locations – these are examples, you can pick locations that best suit your area:

Tree trunk

Grass

Rock

Dirt

Mulch

11. In your butterfly log book, make five col-umns. Label a separate column for each loca-tion - tree trunk, grass, rock, dirt, and bush. (See end of article for sample layout for re-cording data.)

12. Ask someone who does not know where you placed the butterflies to assist you with the next step of the experiment.

*Position the person approximately 20 feet from where you placed the butterflies.

*Ask the individual to go and find each of the butterflies. Based on which ones they find first, stack them in order of discovery.

*Record their collection on your log book.

*Repeat this process for placing the butterflies in different locations.

(Continued...)

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13. Compare your results. Then answer the following questions:

How did the coloring and patterns affect which butterflies were discovered first?

Did the placement of the butterflies in different locations change the order in

which they were found? For example, were they able to find the warning butterflies easier in the grass or on the tree trunk?

Which coloring (warning or camouflage) seemed most effective in all locations?

EXPLANATION-RESULTS-CONCLUSION

Natural colors and patterns create better camouflage than do bright “warning colors”. For caterpillars and butterflies that want to hide, natural colors are best.

Bright warning colors and patterns are easy to spot. Caterpillars and butterflies that want to avoid attack and either taste or smell bad will use these colors to quickly warn a preda-tor to stay away.

Butterfly Log Book Example:

Write the butterfly number and letter code in sequence under each category as each butterfly is found.

This example demonstrates that Butterfly C1 was found first, Butterfly C3 was found second, Butterfly W2 was found third, Butterfly W5 was found fourth, and Butterfly C4 was found fifth.

TREE TRUNK GRASS ROCK DIRT

Butterfly C1 - #1

Butterfly C3 - #2

Butterfly W5 -#4

Butterfly W2 - #3

Butterfly C4 - #5

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Butterfly Pattern Enlarge or reduce to make a variety of different types of butterflies.

Are you looking for a way to offer amazing learning in one great package? Do you want live classes, forums, opportunities for chats, downloadable PDF files, and links to other websites and much, much more for your young people?

Then its time to MOODLE YOUR NOODLE!

So what is MOODLE? Well, it’s just about the coolest thing for engaging young people and pleasing their parent all in a wonderful one location package.

Once students register for a class, they will be given access by the teacher (yours truly) with a User Name and Password.

Click here to visit www.Enrichment4You for more of our hands-on projects and see upcoming course of fer ings here: Enrichment4You.com Moodle Classes

Also, sign up for our newsletter. We will be providing information regarding these classes as they are developed. Newsletter: Subscribe Here

MOODLE YOUR NOODLE - By Jean Henrich www.Enrichment4You.com

P. 64 April 2011 Heart of the Matter

Jim and Sheila Carroll are homeschooling parents and founders of Living Books Curriculum, a literature rich curriculum inspired by the work of Charlotte Mason. LBC offers complete curriculum and individual study guides using Charlotte Mason’s time-tested methods. Jim is a professor of Educational Psychology. Sheila is a writer and storyteller with degrees in Children’s Literature and Educational Leadership. Visit their website at www.livingbookscurriculum.com. The proceeds of their curriculum support bringing Charlotte Mason education to children in developing nations. To learn more: www.educationinabox.com

Jo is a British ex-pat living in Japan and a Montessori mama to Ebi-kun. She designs and sells sewing patterns, handmade goods and Japanese fabric in her Etsy Store and blogs at A Bit Of This and A Bit Of That . In her spare time she runs The Montessori Goldmine, which is a collective of Montessori blogs from around the globe.

Carol Topp, CPA is an author and accountant bringing cents and sensibility to families, small/micro business owners, and nonprofit organizations. Through her writing, speaking and consulting, Carol converts tax rules and business language into clear, easy-to-understand English. She is the is the author several books including the Micro Business for Teens series, Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out and is currently working on

Business Tips and Taxes for Writers for release in June 2011. Carol worked for the US Navy as a cost analyst before obtaining her CPA license in 2000. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two daughters, both homeschool graduates. You can find her site at Carol Topp, CPA

"Common Sense Solutions" Debbie Strayer is a veteran educator, speaker, author and home educator. She enjoys spending time with her husband of thirty

years and her grown children. Dr. Ruth Beechick, too, has spent many years teaching and writing on education. She specializes in curriculum and in how children learn. She is mother of two and grandmother of four and loves working together with Debbie because they think alike on education matters. For more books and articles, see debbiestrayer.com.

Kimberly Bredberg has been a homeschool mom for 16 years and is an advocate for reform in education. Her book, Habits of Being: Artifacts from the Classroom Guild, is forthcoming this spring. She is a founding partner of Blackbird & Company Educational Press and CollectiveBanter.com and is a regular contributor to fourandtwenty.typepad.com as well as being involved in developing an innovative line of curriculum. Her writing and visual art students

have received numerous awards including regional and national recognition by the Scholastic Alliance for Arts and Writing and have been published in online and in-print journals. Long ago the California resident, mother of four, received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biological psychology and fine art, graduate training in clinical art therapy, and more recently earned her MFA in creative writing.

Maggie Hogan is an author, publisher, and nationally recognized speaker who is easily

distracted by all things geography, history and science–related. She lives in Dover, DE with her husband, Bob and two spoiled cats. She has transformed the barn on her property into an office which houses Bright Ideas Press, a home school company dedicated to bringing the best practical, fun, and affordable materials to the homeschool market. www.brightideaspress.com. Maggie is co-

author of The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, Young Scholars Guide to Composers and other homeschooling books. When not reading, writing, or playing with her grandbaby, you can find her drooling over travel magazines.

Jenny Penton is a homeschooling mother of seven children and loves the closeness that

being home with them provides. Un-schooling is how they live and learn and she blogs about their learning experiences at Homeschoolingbelle.com. Jenny also has a passion for inspiring women to become master life planners and that includes menu planning. Check out her sites for life planning and her inspiring recipes on her food blog at plannerperfect.com and plannerperfectmeals.com

Dr. Jay L. Wile holds an earned Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry and a B.S. in chemistry, both

from the University of Rochester. He is best known for his award-winning “Exploring Creation With...” series of science textbooks. Dr. Wile and his wife of more than 25 years, Kathleen, homeschooled their daughter, Dawn, from the time they adopted her until she graduated high school. Dawn is a Butler University graduate and is currently working in the field of veterinary

medicine. You can visit Dr. Wile on the web at http://www.drwile.com. Click on "blog" to read Dr. Wile's thoughts on a wide range of issues.

Bethany LeBedz is a veteran homeschooler, professional editor, writer, and speaker. You

can check out her business website at www.bethanylebedz.com. Bethany contributes regularly to Heart of the Matter Online, has a regular column in the Home School Enrichment magazine, and occasionally writes for other magazines, websites, and newsletters. She lives in North Carolina with her family and she enjoys music, reading, scrapbooking, sewing, genealogy, and keeping up with friends in her spare time. Be sure to follow her blog, Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom, at www.bethanylebedz.blogspot.com.

Heather is a homeschooling mom of four kids ranging from middle school to preschool and

wife to a handsome chemical engineer. Before raising a family, she taught middle school science (with a BS in biological sciences) and has a masters degree in curriculum and instruction secondary education. Now teaching at home means the chance to provide the extraordinary for her children. She’s been homeschooling five years and you can read about those adventures on her

blog, Blog She Wrote.

Dianne Craft, a former homeschooling mother, has a Masters in Special Education and is director of the clinic Child Diagnostics, Inc., in Littleton, CO. She speaks at homeschool conventions around the US. For more articles written by Dianne on children and learning, and some teaching videos, visit her website: www.diannecraft.org Dianne is also a Learning Specialist for HSLDA.

Tricia Hodges faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children – preschoolers to

middle schoolers. Before her real job as a wife and mother, she was an editor. Now she uses her editing marks on schoolwork and proofreads food labels for allergens. The biggest lesson she's learned? At the end of the day – when the dishes are put away and the children are tucked in bed – truly what matters is each child’s relationship with the Lord. Raising children is a God-given privilege

and, folks, the time is short. Tricia writes about practical homeschooling strategies, mixing up a classical and Charlotte Mason style. From her southern roots, she shares frugal recipes and get-it-on-the-table strategies in hopes of keeping all those tummies full. It’s truly a mixture at her family blog, Hodgepodge. She also contributes a blend of writing at Habits for a Happy Home, Passionate Purposeful Parenting, The CurriculumChoice and $5 Dinners. Tricia is also known as Hodgepodgemom.

Debra Anderson has three sons ages 11 and younger. Her passions are education,

mentoring, her husband, writing, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education, is married to her pastor-husband of 16 years, and resides in their newish home in Denver, CO. In spite of moves between four different states, she has always home educated her boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.

Katie Kubesh is co-owner and writer/researcher for In the Hands of a Child. A mom of three,

Katie uses her knowledge and creativity to help create Ready-to-Assemble Lapbook Project Packs and teach others how to incorporate lapbooking into their curriculum. She resides in Northern Michigan with her husband and three daughters. Recognizing that hands-on projects are essential to the learning experience, In the Hands of a Child has created Project Packs that go beyond the hands-on aspect. They have taken the preparation time out of the parent/teacher job description with Complete Ready to Assemble Lapbook-style units that are available in Ebook, Printed Book, and CD formats. Please visit their website at www.handsofachild.com.

Lee Binz, The HomeScholar helps parents homeschool high school and is a leading

internet home school resource helping parents homeschool to college. She is an expert in how to craft a winning homeschool transcripts. She has an award-winning Christian homeschool blog and one of the most popular homeschool newsletters available. Lee is a dynamic speaker at homeschooling conventions as well as homeschooling support groups. Check out her free minicourse and

training webinar on how to give homeschool credit in high school. You can find Lee online at www.TheHomeScholar.com and on www.Facebook.com/TheHomeScholar.

Marie-Claire Moreau is a long-time homeschooler and recognized advisor, coach, and

mentor to homeschooling families across the Country. Having homeschooled preschoolers through high schoolers who have been accepted into college, Dr. Moreau devotes her efforts to empowering other parents to do the same. Through her writing, workshops and discussion groups, she strives to provide resources, information, encouragement and support to families raising the next generation of scholars. Check out Dr. Moreau's web site www.quickstarthomeschool.com to read more. Look for her new book, "Suddenly Homeschooling" (Wyatt Mackenzie, 2011) coming soon!

http://heartofthematteronline.com/