Homeschooling thoughts for the new school year

So, it's the start of another school year! In our home that means going through all the old school books, replacing old supplies, and establishing goals for the year. I recently realized that this is my tenth year homeschooling! This has set me to reflecting on our goals for the year.
We've been homeschooling through a charter school here in Southern California for several years now called CAVA. There are several positives to schooling through a charter. First, all the materials and curriculum are provided for you,at no cost. You also get support from the charter schools staff, if you need it. We use the K-12 curriculum. However, the primary reason we chose to go through a charter was because of our experience with my son, who was the first of my children to be homeschooled. When my son reached the 11th grade, he decided he wanted to be main streamed into the public school system. He was accepted into the local high school. We submitted samples of his work. At 16 years old, he only needed the state required health class, a biology lab and the second semester of world history in order to graduate. When he was enjoying his senior year of high school, we were informed almost half way through the year that the decision had been made that my son wouldn't be allowed to graduate with his peers, that he needed to retake all the classes he had taken while homeschooling. I contacted a couple of legal groups that represent homeschoolers in the hopes of fighting this decision. This is when I learned that in the state of California, the schools must accept all homeschool students without prejudice, however, they aren't required to accept any of the student's work. This is what really lead to my decision to go with a charter school rather than homeschooling on my own.
When I first started with the charter school I'm with now, I was thrilled with the quality of the materials. We started out with a great deal of enthusiasm. I've always loved homeschooling, and my children enjoyed it too. However, without my even noticing it, the joy has gone out of teaching (for me) and out of learning (for my children). I had always kind of felt that the curriculum didn't allow for any creativity or spontaneity. But I thought the pros out-weighed the cons. But over the last couple of years, the focus of the charter has shifted entirely. Previously, the focus had been on the individual child and that child's needs. The focus is now entirely on standardized testing. From the first day of school, they start preparing the children to do well on testing. Nothing else matters. The kids are tested to death from day one. We are now two weeks into the school year, and my children are spending nine hours a day on school. There is an awful lot of "busy work" and I notice that my two youngest are frustrated and bored.
Therefore, my goal for this year will be to bring that enthusiasm and love of learning back into our schooling. I haven't completely figured it out yet, but I'm working on it.

The best things in life are FREE!

With all the changes our family has been going through recently, we find that we are somewhat...um....economically challenged. (And we aren't alone!)This has pretty much put a stop to our family outings, with the exception of our local dollar theater. That is why I was thrilled to find out that there is tons of cool stuff out there that we can do for FREE! We have been dying to check out the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage. I was excited to find out the the second Tuesday of every month is "Free Tuesday" at the Museum of Western Heritage. We paid a visit last week and had a great time. The girls' favorite exhibition was "Granite Frontiers: A Century of Yosemite Climbing" which will continue until October 4th. The kids were able to handle actual rock climbing tools and climb on a "portaledge", a hanging tent system which rock climbers use as a temporary shelter during longer climbs. We also especially enjoyed the "Chinese Home". The girls dressed up in authentic Chinese costumes. Skylar and Haley pretended to cook in the kitchen of the restaurant, while Kaelyn manned the old fashioned cash register. If you wish to purchase lunch at the museum, the "Golden Spur Cafe" offers children's meals at pretty much the same price as a MacDonald's Happy Meal. The meals are large, filling and the fries are great. If, like me, you would rather bring your own lunch, you can sit outside on the museum grounds and have a picnic lunch. There are even picnic tables!With its many interactive displays, I was pleasantly surprised at how "kid friendly" the Museum of is. My girls are already asking to return!

The Autry National Center’s Museum of the American West
Griffith Park Campus
Autry National Center
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA, 90027-1462
T. 323.667.2000
F. 323.660.5721
Summer Hours: On Thursdays, in July and August, the museum and Museum Store are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Golden Spur Cafe is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/

Haley's Art Work

A drawing of big brother Christopher playing basketball.

Annual Acton 4th of July Parade

The things we do for our kids...

I love my children more than anything. Like any good parent, I would be willing to risk life and limb for them. Therefore, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would be forced to watch "Hannah Montana: The Movie". First, I tried to convince my girls that Hannah Montana aka Miley Cyrus is really an evil child genius trying to take over the world through clever marketing. When this failed, I fell back on, "Well, we can't really afford a trip to the movies right know." However, when the Hannah Montana movie hit the local dollar theatre, I knew that my doom was almost upon me. Monday's at the Cinemark 12 in Lancaster is family night. Tickets on family night are only .50 per person. Ah, for the days when they couldn't read! So, last Monday, I packed my purse with enough chocolate to sustain me for 1 hour and 42 minutes of watching perky little Miley Cyrus bounce around the screen exclaiming "Sweet niblets!" Although the movie was every bit as awful and corney as I had feared, I must admit some of her songs are kinda catchy. The most important thing is, that my girls loved it and in spite of the movie, we really had a great
time.

If you are interested in an inexpensive movie night, the Cinemark can't be beat, as long as you don't mind seeing the movie after it has been out for a while. Here's the info:

Cinemark Movies 12
44790 Valley Central Way
Lancaster, CA 93534
Recording:
1-800-FANDANGO Exp Code 1438#
Office: 661-945-5183
Fax: 661-945-5084
Prices from $2.50 to $1.25
Mondays are Family Day, 3 guests or more pay only .50 each.

For more information, go to: http://www.cinemark.com

The Perils of Pickle

And the saga continues...
in my living room, I have a small sink with a cabinet underneath and one above. I have yet to determine it's purpose. I noticed that someone had written "mommy" in permanent black marker. Having recognized the writing, I called the culprit out. The discussion went something like this:
(Me): "Pickle, who wrote this on the cabinet?"
(Kaelyn): "Well, it's your name, mommy."
(Me, raised eyebrows): Are you saying I wrote that?"
(Kaelyn):Duh mommy...if it's your name, you musta wrote it!"
As the song goes...that's my story and I'm sticking to it....

The Joys of Parenthood

Tonight has been one of those evenings. It seems that when Pickle flushed the toilet in the second bathroom, it overflowed. She found this so entertaining, that she kept right on flushing. She was having a grand time when I waded into the living room. As the terror of the seven seas contemplated taking scissors to my only black skirt (she needs a Jolly Roger flag) I came to the realization that I am lacking, among other things, a plunger. Well, I'm off to Wal*Mart. I hope the living room carpet is salvageable! Isn't parenthood awesome!