Woops, I broke my twitter
Sorry I ran away from the homeschool chat #hsc without saying goodbye. I apparently talked too much for twitter’s liking. I was unable to post and was told to “Relax for a few hours and try again”. LOL Perhaps Heathen Dad is correct and I sometimes talk way too much!
Anyhoo, it was great hosting the chat. I look forward to chatting again next month.
Dear Heathen Mom,
I am so glad to see the weather beginning to get nicer. I have had a terrible time the last few weeks with a sinus infection. I generally don’t get sick except for kidney issues, so this has been rough. Why can’t mom call in sick? Really should have read the fine print on the contract a little closer, lol.
I love receiving emails from readers. I have been trying to answer each one, but today I realized I have been answering the same questions over and over. I think it is time to answer a few commonly asked questions. I will take a few each week to post about. Have more questions? GREAT! Email me anytime!
Q: What curriculum do you use?
A: We do not use a prepackaged curriculum. The reasoning is quite simple, a prepackaged curriculum is limiting. No one boxed set is going to have information about all of the things that our kiddos want to study during the year. We are also not big on workbooks, so boxed sets that focus on workbook after workbook would drive me and the kiddos bonkers. Even if your family loves workbooks it is doubtful that your child needs the same grade level work in all subjects.
Q: What curriculum do you recommend for X grade?
A: I really don’t want to recommend a boxed curriculum. I would love to help you find materials for various subjects. I am going to start writing more reviews of books, material sources, etc. If you really want to use a prepackaged set Oak Meadow is a secular provider of boxed sets. They also sell items individually. We have purchased a few books from the company. I’m planning to write about one of them in a couple of weeks.
Q: Where are you?
A: We live in southwest Missouri. Springfield is the largest city around, but St. Louis and Kansas City are just a few hours away. If you know of a gathering of secular homeschoolers anywhere nearby, please let me know. We love to hook up with other homeschoolers.
Q: Why do you homeschool?
A: Short answer: We homeschool for academic reasons. I tend to answer that question using our short answer. If a person is actually interested, I do have an expanded story to share. I’ll save you the trouble of having to hear it tonight. 
Q: Did you go to college?
A: Yes I did. I graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a master’s in counseling. I also completed both of my undergraduate degrees at the same university. Last semester I started graduate school again at another local university. I am working on a master’s in criminology.
Q: How many children do you have?
A: We have two. Our son is nine (4th grade if still in public school) and our daughter is 4.
Thanks for reading this edition of Dear Heathen Mom. I have some additional questions that I will be writing about later this week.
What School?
We started homeschooling when our son completed kindergarten. It was during his second year that he decided that we really needed to name our school. Sounds like a simple task right? It was anything but easy. We didn’t want the name to sound too “school” or too “fairytale”. It was a delicate balance. We needed to find a name that was fun and yet would not make people laugh if they read the name on a form. You might be wondering why my son wanted to name our school. Well that’s simple, he wanted t-shirts made with his school name. His friends who went to public school had them, so he wanted one for homeschooling, lol.
My kiddos have always been curious by nature. Even before they could talk they both were interested in seeing how things work. Yes, that means we have lots of toys taken apart just to see if they can be put back together. One of my son’s favorite lines of questioning starts with the words “I wonder…”.
You know what I mean ~~
I wonder what would happen if I mix these two things together? Said right before making two substances overflow and spilling all over the floor.
I wonder if I can make a bridge that will hold weight? Followed by a glass of juice being used as the weight to test the bridge that was not quite constructed properly. Model 2.0 worked much better.
I wonder what the inside of an eyeball looks like? Hey mom we need some dissection supplies.
I wonder what the surface of Mars looks like? This was followed by years of ongoing research. He still says he will make a rover that will go to Mars someday and he hopes to be the first man on Mars.
My daughter also developed this pattern of thinking ~~
I wonder how sweet butterflies like their food? Enter the experiment with butterflies where we created six different varieties of sugar water for them to feast on.
I wonder what the inside of the body looks like?
I wonder…..
Well you get the idea. My children wonder about a lot. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can allow each of them to explore their ideas. I love being able to do that.
So what did we name the school way back when my son was in second grade?
Wonder Academy
It is still a fitting name for our homeschool life. When the kiddos “wonder” they are free to explore.
Do you have a name for your homeschool? Leave a comment and let me know what it is and why you picked it.
Happy Birthday Heathen Dad
Today is my hubby’s birthday! Happy birthday Heathen Dad! He is my best friend and the most wonderful husband and father to my kiddos.
The kids were wanting to get him something unique and I think they found just the thing. Heathen Dad is a geek by profession, so the kids wanted to find something that announced his geekness. How do you think they did?
Birthday Present to the Geek we Love!
Snow Day Fun and Science Saturday
The weather here in Missouri has been a little crazy for the past few weeks….ice, rain, snow, ice, more ice, snow again. It has made for an exciting time not knowing if events will be cancelled due to the weather or not. So how have we been passing the time?
Heathen Dad had fun pulling the kids up and down the hill in our backyard. Well he had fun until he went splat while running down the hill. Too bad I missed getting a picture of him going splat.
The kids (read Heathen Dad did much of the work) built a wonderful snowman in the front yard. It has been fun watching him melt. My son had fun coming up with ideas of how to slow down the melting process, but alas in the end Mr. Snowman is starting to look like some sort of abstract art piece made of snow.
How can a snowy day be turned into a day of science fun? Oh my goodness, the possibilities are endless! Here are just a few ideas…..
Examine snowflakes: Put a piece of dark colored construction paper in the freezer to chill. We typically use black paper for more contrast. Once the paper is cold, place it outside when it is snowing. The paper will collect snowflakes and you will be able to closely examine the flakes. We take out magnifying glasses to look at the structure of the flakes.
Experiment to see which turns to steam first when heated – snowflakes or crushed ice. My daughter came up with this idea. She was so proud of herself for coming up with a chemistry experiment. We placed an equal amount of snow and crushed ice into pans and placed them on the stove. Pretty easy experiment.
Construction with snow: My son wanted to build in the snow, but alas, it was not good building snow. This resulted in him deciding to research why snow is sometimes powder-like and other times will be great for building and snowballs. He learned a lot about weather in a short period of time.
People often tell me that they have problems fitting science into their homeschool routine. Science is everywhere. Turn a snowy day into a science lab. The activities will probably encourage research that will continue long after the snow is gone.
Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday is dedicated to the moms today who couldn’t believe that I do in fact have an adult beverage from time to time. Now I’d never go as far as giving up reading. I have too much of a book problem to do that, lol!
Oh where, oh where has Heathen Mom gone?
Seems like this has been a reoccurring theme for my blog a few times a year. Hopefully this is the last time such a post is ever written.
So where have I been for the last few weeks? I was just away from my blog doing a lot of thinking and being busy offline. I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to come from my online life here at Heathen Homeschoolers.
I have been discouraged by the lack of support I have felt in some areas when it comes to homeschooling. It was one of those, I really didn’t think Heathen Dad understood everything I did type of problems. I struggled with the first session of the new semester for our academic group where I was just teaching rather than being in a leadership position. I wanted to continue to give my friends in leadership the support they needed while still removing myself from the role. Boy was that a tough day – but in the end I think I still have those ladies as friends – hope so.
Word about my blog also spread in our local group. It seemed a little weird to write when I had people who were “shocked” to find out about my blog. Some of the people who initially were shocked by the name (always pays to read the “define Heathen” page) came back to me and apologized for being so harsh with their initial comments. They realized there was useful information here.
To top it all off, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks sick – UGH! I hate being sick. I am not a good “sick person”. I’m glad I don’t get sick too often. The good news is the medicine is finally starting to help and I think the risk of head explosion is now low.
I let other people get in the way of the excitement I felt back in December when I wrote about having more time for my blog. I let those negative thoughts eat away at my confidence and felt like it didn’t matter if I took yet another break from my blog.
This weekend I realized something…..
MY BLOG DOES MATTER!!!!
That’s right folks – the self confidence has been located again. Hehehe
There are Heathen Homeschoolers all over the world. Many of whom live in an area like I do where choosing to homeschool for academic reasons is not considered the norm. Not only does writing here help me, it helps all of us Heathen Homeschoolers to connect. That connection is so important – just knowing that you aren’t the only Heathen Homeschooler in the world is a wonderful feeling.
So what’s coming up for Heathen Homeschoolers you ask……
The forums that have been sorely neglected will be officially opened this month. Watch for an announcement after I have updated things on the forums. Have to get it all nice and pretty for my fellow Heathens.
More posts….that’s right folks….more posts…..It is a snowy wonderland here in Missouri right now. I’ll be posting snowy day activities this week.
If you are in Missouri – send me an email if you are planning to go to any conferences this spring. I’ll let you know if I’m going to be at them. I would love to meet some other homeschoolers.
Someone might be looking into planning an activity or two for later this year in Missouri. Shhh, don’t jinx it. Details are still being worked out.
Anyone on Second Life? I’ve been asked to speak at an education conference this year that will be in Second Life. Yeah, I’m a dork…… No really, online conferences are great. No travel expenses, lol!
I am writing a book – well kinda. It’s more of an activity idea book. Details coming later.
You will notice a few changes on the blog. I will no longer be offering the free/almost free advertising through the networks I was using. I want to get rid of that traffic so I can see how many people actually come to my blog for the articles. Shameless plug alert – I will still be offering advertising space. If you would like to advertise on the blog or forum please send me an email.
If you plan to be at BlogHer 10 in NYC, be sure to pay attention to announcements here at Heathen Homeschoolers before the conference. I’m going to have a homeschool meet-up the night before the main conference. Homeschoolers know how to party you know
The last several months have reminded me of an important lesson my daddy taught me long ago. I will no longer let the negative thoughts of others dictate what I do in my own life or on my own blog
Fine…he never said blog, but come on, I’m in my thirties – blogs didn’t exist back when I was little.
Thoughtful Thursday
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ~ John Wooden
Do you know your state law?
It always seems like there in a big increase in the number of questions about starting to homeschool this time of year. Many people decide to begin their homeschool journey at the beginning of a traditional semester (August or January). I am often asked where to start the homeschooling journey by new homeschooling moms. I always have the same answer….you need to start by learning about the homeschool laws in your state. The laws vary so much between states – some states have no requirements at all while others require pre-approval of curriculum choices.
So just how does a new homeschooler find out about state laws? It is actually quite simple…if you google “Missouri department of education” (Just replace Missouri with the state you live in) you find the website of Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (MO DESE). A simple search on the department’s site will help you to find the homeschooling requirements for your state.
It is also important to pay attention to any changes of the homeschool laws within your state. The requirements in Missouri changed just slightly recently.
If you haven’t reviewed the requirements for your state this year, I encourage you to take another look at the homeschool laws for your state.
Wordless Wednesday – Introducing Spot v1.0
Today’s Wordless Wednesday is brought to you by my son. Meet Spot – My son’s first programmable robot. Spot will return to the blog later once he has been programmed.