Hello Readers,
Thanks for stopping by. You know, I've been cleaning up the site a little bit and it occured to me that I've not been a very faithful blogger. I've failed to blog more than a handful of times this year and now, the year is nearly over. My New Year's Resolution (among several), is to be a better blogger. Not just in how I write, but in the content. You, the reader, deserve my best and I'm going to strive to give it to you. In doing so, I had to rediscover what it is about blogging that I enjoy... First, it's sharing! What I've learned during this crazy adventure in homeschooling But it's also: family organization journaling humor encouragement health awareness and of course... some hard truths. So, in order to do my best, I'm going to NOT focus on any one particular area, but simply, blog as I see (and feel) fit to do so. I found myself comparing my blogging skills with others. But then I realized, they may be hardcore bloggers because they are supplementing their income or, it may be their only income... But I am not a paid blogger. For one, I don't know the first thing about affiliates and sponsors, the hows, or whats of it... I just... Don't. But I do know about what I enjoy, and that is all that I need to worry with. You may have noticed some changes to the site - it needed updating in the worst way! So I've changed the theme and added some new photos. I've also added a page counter at the very bottom - this lets me know what pages get the most views. Don't worry - I cannot see your IP at all... EVER! To add a little flavor, I've asked Gia once again to host a blog series on the True Stories of Homeschool. You can find it under the Blog tab. She has families contacting her with real-life stories of homeschool families. All names and locations are omitted for privacy, but the stories are very real. She's just posted her first one, with more coming after the New Year begins. The winter newsletter is posted in the newsletter section - and if you missed an edition, feel free to find it there as well. If you want to sign up to receive our newsletter straight to your inbox, send us an email at [email protected]. As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions, ideas, concerns, or just want to chat! We love hearing from you! Until next time, LaVonda
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Dear Readers,
How many times have you defended your choice to homeschool? Tons, right? You've gone through the whole spiel of why you chose to homeschool, your views on how it's better than (insert reason/scenario), and to what extent you adapt to the various methods of homeschooling that "works" for your kiddos. And that is fabulous! But what if you could do more? What if you could say, "Studies show" and it mean something? We place value on studies, right? We depend on the studies of medicine, studies of history, studies of all sorts of things. But what about Socialization? As homeschool parents, it is difficult to debate the issue of socialization because we don't know how well homeschool children perform at a social level? Of course, we know how our "own" children perform. But what do we say when we are asked to compare their performance to their public school counterparts? Well, honestly... not a whole lot. It's time to begin working on solidifying our argument that homeschool children perform equal to (or better than) their public school peers, regarding socialization and performativity. It's time to stop the incessant droning on of how homeschool children are less socialized. It's time to be a part of something we continue to fight for everyday... the right to homeschool in an oppression-free society. How? You voluneteer! I'm conducting interviews on the parental perspective of homeschooled children. This study is approved by the Arkansas State University Institutional Review Board. The interview is conducted over the telephone and your information is kept confidential. The interview is approximately 35 minutes long. You can end the interview at any time. You can skip any question you do not want to answer. All you have to do is send me an e-mail and get scheduled. Won't you help me? Thanks, LaVonda Hello Dear Readers,
I cannot think of a more suitable group of friends. I really do love hearing from you. I find our interactions highly enlightening and genuinely, you make my day! But I need a little help... Hello Readers and Homeschoolers, Things sure have changed in the last few months. And as I've stated before, I'm not usually one to speak about politics on the blog - I just don't want the headache that comes with it. But folks, I've got to talk about this thing called Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality is nothing new. In fact, we already had some of the provisions of net neutrality prior to the law being established in 2015. However, the law made it 100% equal across the board on what information you could access and basically, unless you are subscribing to premium content (Amazon Prime, Wix, Education.com) through a service-based company, the internet was accessible to anyone who paid to have it. Paid to have the internet. Keep that in mind, because I'm about to blow your skirt up! As a homeschool family, we use the internet daily - for about three to five hours in-class and then for streaming television or games/social media afterward. We are a techie family - don't judge us, please. Regardless, we know we use data. We have a high-speed broadband package and pay $100 a month JUST FOR THE INTERNET. Why? Because we use it and we value it and it is very much worth that money. Could I use the money for something else? Sure. But would that something else provide my children with access to educational website, allow us to see our favorite shows together as a family and at a time that is convenient for us? Would that something else give my husband the opportunity to play his music and to share it on YouTube? Better yet... Would that something else allow me, and you, the opportunity to peruse the hundreds of blogs out there on homeschooling that provides us with tons of tips, tricks, and support. Let's not forget the affiliate bloggers who use their skills and abilities to bring in a little supplemental income for their families. No. That $100 is well worth every penny. But if the cost went up, I do not think we would be able to pay it. Luckily, our ISP has several smaller packages should we need to downgrade. But, that downgrade is only the tip of the iceberg. Net neutrality provides a "common ground". With me in Arkansas, and you where ever you may be, can access the same webpage, view the same content, and utlize the sites functions all with our very own ISP subscription. Right? Yes. Enter the repeal. Last week, the FCC voted 3 to 2 to repeal the act that allowed the very act mentioned above to occur. What does this mean? Hello Readers,
I don't have but just a minute, so I wanted to make this post quickly, but informatively.
Not often does a person have the ability to honestly and humbly admit when something moves them. More often than not, that person will find some justification in taking credit for something that happened, regardless of "who" helped make it happen at all.
No. We adults sometimes find it difficult admitting somethings - and our kids teaching us - being one of them. However, I have recently had the priviledge of my child becoming the teacher when it comes to my level of patience. That's right! Patience. She taught me, and now I'm going to teach you! You've mashed it! Squished it! Rolled it! That wonderfully soft, brilliantly colored dough that is "play"! The essence of most childhood memories will included the stuff and for as little as $0.50 a container at Wal-Mart, you can almost always afford it... Clean up is another story, and another post entirely! But today, I want to remind all of us old' fogies of how much fun play-doh can be. But I'm going to let you in on a very nice little secret! Shhh! Don't tell anyone! Playdoh is a wonderful learning tool and manipulative for more than just odd-makings. I decided that our kindergartener needed some extra development in learning her letter shapes and what better way than with play-doh?! Using our word processor, I created some large cards with each of the letters of the alphabet, both in capital and lowercase. I laminated them (because we will use them for our daily letter practice, too, and they need to last a while). Using Play-doh, she rolls out little snakes, and then places the doh on top of the shape to make the letter -- Viola! Instant manipulative. It doesn't stop at letters. You can incorporate this same method into numbers, punctuation marks, 1:1 counting, patterns, shapes, oh gosh - now that I think about it, you could even use the dough as a "calming tool" for when you've just found a mess of doh mushed into your carpet! Yes! Doh, even in its worst form, is a great way to learn! Here's our adventure this week. Find out how great her second week of school went - visit our Youtube Channel for videos and updates! Ciao! LaVonda Imagine this: You are in public, let's say, at the mall, or the salon. Or maybe you are enrolled in college courses. You go about your day, completely blind to those microscopic germs and bacteria that were on the:
Let that sink in for just a minute. Grossed out yet? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps you are a germaphobe who washes your hands religiously. Perhaps you take it further and don't even venture outside your home. Or just maybe, you don't worry about the "big ones", like measles, mumps, chicken pox, Hepetitis, rubella, scarlet fever... Because your parents felt strongly about having you vaccinated. Yes, there are reasons to vaccinate, and reasons NOT to vaccinate. Rather than start a debate over the pros and cons, the risks and benefits, I'll limit this post to the title: Why we vaccinate. We vaccinate because there are increasingly more who do not. The rates of outbreaks, specifically mumps and whooping cough are on the rise. Meningococcal meningitis among public educational institutions are also increasing. We vaccinate to protect ourselves. Do we get ALL of them? No! The HPV vaccine is the one we elect not to recieve, and for good reason. The mere thought of cancer is somewhat debilitating. Knowing that certain strains of HPV have been linked to some cancers is... well, as scary as hell. But the thought of having a vaccine that was nothing if not forced into society through less than (my) satisfactory testing and studies. The alarm of increased risk with this vaccine has my red flags waving. Now is not the time for my family to be at risk for those who rightfully choose against vaccinating their children. We homeschool, we vaccinate. We made the choice that is right for us. Ciao! LaVonda Hello all,
I sat here tonight looking over our lesson plans for Monday and started thinking, “Jeeze, we cover a LOT of stuff. Even in just the first week back to school, we are busy, busy, busy!” Then I look at the curriculum I created and I’m so thankful we are not tied to too many textbooks. Which in turn got me to thinking about how much work we do, and how many ways we learn that are NOT attached to the traditional way of learning. If you are just starting out homeschooling, or if you are a veteran looking to break away from the chains of textbooks, I give you Generation Homeschools Amazing Alternatives to Textbook Learning! Hello everyone! It’s Monday and if your Monday is anything like mine, you got up with the roosters and haven’t slowed since! What I wouldn’t give for a 30-minute slow-down just to breathe, but as a homeschool momma, that doesn’t always happen, and when it does, seldom do I realize it, until it has already passed.
Today’s topic is one that seems to pop into my head, just as we are about to begin the homeschool season. We aren’t scheduled to begin our classes until next Monday, but I wanted to get a jump on this blog because our first week back is always a hit and miss of tantrums, pouting, and a little frustration. The kids aren’t particularly fond of that type of behavior – after all – I am the mom! After a little thought, I posed the question to our children, wanting to know if there is anything that keeps them awake at night. Naturally, we all want our children to be worry free, and if we thought homeschooling would take the edge off, we might have been slightly mistaken. Kids will worry about all sorts of stuff. Christmas, birthday presents, that new video game that was just released. They even worry about what snacks they’ll have (because some are just picky eaters). But I wanted to know more about their thoughts on homeschool. The Question: “Thinking about homeschool, tell me what keeps you awake at night”. And just like the little talkers they are, they each had their response ready in a matter of minutes. This is good because it tells me they are being honest. It’s bad, because they think about it so much, they already had their answer prepared. Their response was typical, but nevertheless, some were not what I wanted to hear. Then I asked myself the question. Of course, they were typical homeschool mom questions. So, sit down and hold on as I prepare to answer the 10 questions about homeschooling that will keep you up at night! |
HELLOWelcome! My name is LaVonda. I am the wife of Rodney, the mom of 5 remarkable kids (well, 2 are adults now), an avid homeschooler, blogger, and sociologist. I am blessed with the ability to spend my time sharing our homeschool and life experiences with you. It is my hope to provide you with motivation, ideas, and some candid stress-relief through my blog - Mom's Scribe! Grab a cup of coffee, sit on down, and make yourself at home! Past Scribes
August 2020
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