Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Mom's Group = Information Overload

I have recently joined a homeschool group.  Everyone said that this is an essential part of being a homeschooler. We opted for a small group that is in our town.  Not Houston, mind you, but the little town of Tomball.  We are on the outside edge of both Houston and Tomball, but our address is Tomball.  So, I decided to give TCH a go.  It has been wonderful so far.  It's been nice getting e-mails through the yahoo group.  There is a plethora of information on many things from which veterinarian to use, great camp sites, organized groups for kiddos, library activities, and much more.  One of the things that we had the chance to do through the group was a woodworking class.  The boys loved it!  The focus tool of the day was a router.  The young man, Danny, walked them through how to use the router to curve the edges of the little sailboats they made.  He showed them how to hammer nails (I know this should be obvious, but for my little city boys...not so much.) and how to drill holes in wood.  The finished product was great.  They were so excited to come home and test their sailboats.  They had the opportunity to do just that the next day in the kiddie pool out back.  Happy happy boys!!

Last night, was the monthly Mom's Group.  It is a time for homeschool mom's to gather around and chit chat about what is happening.  Fun, fellowship, and food.  You know, the normal girls' pow wow sort of thing.  There is usually a topic.  Our topic was what things do you wish we had a "do-over" on.  (That's in my words.  The organizer's topic sounded better but I just can't remember.)  We really didn't focus much on the topic.  It was more about what is everyone doing that works and what hasn't worked as well.  I took notes, of course.  I walked away with so much info swimming around in my brain that I guess it is going to take a while to filter through.  I thought that I could just write all of my bullet points down and see if anyone who reads this might have some insight as to whether they have any idea what this stuff is and if it is good or not.  Some of it is not really a curriculum or a book, per se, but just ideas that you might expound on by suggesting a book that pertains to the topic.

Anyways, thanks for reading.  Here goes:


  • Character Sketches, ATAIA
  • Teach them the Joy of Learning=Discovering
  • Different Children Different Needs
  • Take 2 Cups.  Fill one cup with the rooms in your house and the other with a subject.  Shake them up and let your child pick one of each.  This adds variaty to the day:  Reading in the Family Room, Math in the Kitchen, Science in the Bedroom, etc.
  • Bribing Children with M & M's to finish problems.  (Thought my boys would probably not do so well with this.  Imagine my wiggle worms on a sugar high!!)
  • Nickles on the Table.  Place 10 nickles on the table.  Each time they drop their pencil (or other distracting thing they tend to do) they lose a nickle.  The hope is they keep their money and you keep your sanity.
  • One lady said her boys (she has 6) took way too much time on math--like an hour and a half.  She started making them do it the night before with dad.  They finished in 20 minutes.
  • Add 5 problems for every problem they get wrong in math.
  • Easy Grammar
  • Season's Harvest Cafe
  • Organizing a Field Day
  • ALEKS Math
  • Homeschool Special Needs Support Groups
  • HSLDA
  • CC
  • Follow My Leader
  • Seeds of Praise
  • EPGY Math, $15/month

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like we have a lot to sort through and choose from. I love this picture, too. We are blessed with some cute, sweet boys!

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  2. I haven't joined a homeschool group..... Maybe I should!?!
    I remember when we first started and how excited and organized I was, in the beginning...and they it kind of teetered off. I think that is where I went wrong. I need to keep the excitement going throughout the year.
    Thanks for doing this blog.. It is quite helpful!
    Joanne

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  3. I think it has been helpful. It is nice having a group of ladies to talk to about homeschooling each month. I like TCH because it is small. I was worried about joining a large group and getting lost. This one suits us for now. There are many parents who are in multiple groups for different reasons. You can join that one if you want. Another one that many women have recommended is Heritage Christian Homeschool Group. As far as TCH goes, I know that there are others who use Abeka. The lady that hosted it this month does Abeka. One of the things that we discussed at the meeting was how it is easy to lose the fun of it all. I was encouraged to find those moments with my kids to just have fun during the learning process. Think out of the box for some of our learning. I am glad you are enjoying the blog. It makes me happy to have someone to share with who will also give me feedback so I can learn more!

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