Convention Season is Done!

It hardly seems possible that that another year of conventions has gone by. It was great meeting all of you this year. I love meeting new folks who are interested in Sonlight for the first time ... and seeing old friends who come back each season to tell me about their school year. It's fun seeing your kids grow up!

I'm interested in hearing what nugget of encouragement you took away from the convention you visited this year. Perhaps it was a specific workshop? Or maybe a speaker who just touched your heart. Just possibly, it was simply the time spent with other homeschoolers. Many folks I talked to this year expressed how making their annual convention trip was like refueling for the coming school year.

So post a comment here sharing your most encouraging memory from this year's convention visit. On July 13th I'll do a random drawing for a Sonlight tote bag from those who commented. Just the thing to carry all those Sonlight books to the park!

Have a wonderful July 4th weekend!
~Judy

Shop Project

Home Ec and other electives for girls seem to come easy for me. I love to sew, bake, cook, crochet, cross-stitch ... all activities that make for great Home Ec projects. Shop, however, is another story. As my son enters high school, I've been stumped looking for projects he and I could do together. Certainly he is learning to cook and bake, but I want him to develop other skills as well.

So last weekend we hit upon a project almost by accident! Aaron needed a new dresser ... the one he was using just wasn't meeting his needs any longer. So off he went with his dad to check out possibilities ... and back they came with a huge box full of hardware and pieces of very heavy wood! Instant "shop" project!

We sorted through pieces, read through the directions, and spent a couple of hours assembling a very nice dresser. I thoroughly enjoyed working side-by-side with my 14 year old "man" of few words. The end result was a very nice piece of furniture and the satisfaction of sharing a job well done. And the confidence that we can look for future projects to do together!

~Judy

Sharing a love for reading ...

One of the most precious benefits our family has gained from homeschooling is a mutual love of good books. It's exciting to me when my kids are eager to share the newest book they are reading and are interested in having me read it as well.

I've met some new authors over the past few years as a result of my children. I had never heard of Eoin Colfer until my youngest began reading the Artemis Fowl series. It's unlikely I would have pursued a story about twelve year old millionaire and a kidnapped fairy of my own accord. But when my son began devouring the books, I couldn't resist! Brian Jacques became another family favorite when all three kids stumbled onto the Redwall series. Martin the Warrior and Cluny the one-eyed Rat became regular topics of conversation. Even dad was "sucked in" when Jacques came out with Castaways of the Flying Dutchmen.

These days Ted Dekker is the author of choice. I finished reading Kiss just recently and was on the edge of my seat until the last page. While I'm not a fan of all of his books, there are many that have become favorites and I'm sure I'll read them again.

I can't wait to see what new authors we discover this year!

~Judy

Teaching Elementary Science

Science is one of those subjects that is easily slid to the back burner. In the lower grades, when phonics and fundamental math are priorities, science rarely makes it to the top of the list. Here's one approach that might move science off the back burner!

When my children were in the K-4 or 5 years, I came up with a solution to my science woes that worked out pretty well in our homeschool. Each quarter of our school year (every 9 weeks), we would take a "week off" from all other subjects (except math!) and enjoy a science week. That science week would focus on a single topic ...

As I planned my school year each summer, I would choose four science topics to enjoy for the coming year. I would then make certain to collect anything I needed for each of these weeks as they drew closer. I usually spent some time on-line during the summer, checking for special Science books or supplies that might round out our topical studies. Then a couple weeks prior to each Science week, I would visit our local library to add to our stack of books for study. Here are some possible Science topics to choose from:

• Weather
• Astronomy
• Human Body
• Electricity
• Magnetism
• Plant Life
• Birds
• Insects
• Machines
• Ocean Life
  

Once each Science week arrived, we would pull out our stacks of books and science materials, each student would grab their Science "notebook" (3-ring binder with lined and unlined paper), and we would begin our adventure. This might involve some reading about the topic on their own, some reading that I would do aloud, and any activities or experiments that might relate to the topic at hand. I usually tried to include one or two Science videos related to the topic as well. I would make sure that we wrote down any new Science "words" in their notebooks, being certain they understood what they meant. We also sketched (or you could take photos of) the experiments we tried. These all made for a wonderful Science notebook.

My primary goal was to ignite an excitement in my children for learning about Science. Since I viewed these weeks as being "discovery" oriented, I wasn't terribly concerned about mastery of the material. At a time when our major focus was on learning to read well and establishing the fundamentals of math, this approach to Science was enjoyable for all of us.

So don't obsess about Science ... feel free to move it to the back burner, with the exception of four weeks when you enjoy exploring God's creation with your children!