I am currently reading a truly amazing book, Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall & Denver Moore. It is the story of a homeless man and an international art dealer and the woman who bound them together in a deep friendship. It is woven with truth and I find it challenging me in much the same way the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan did.

Same Kind of Different as Me is one of those books that you have to stop yourself from reading too fast so that you can slow down and reflect a little, and maybe even consider how it (ok, not "it" but probably Someone a little mightier than a mere book) might change the person you are.

In doing a little personal reflecting, I feel like I need to encourage you to remember that the most important lessons you teach your children are not the ones in the school books. Those lessons are merely a means to an end. The school book lessons give them the tools they need to think , to solve problems , find answers and they prepare them for what their future holds.

But the lessons in how to live, how to treat others, how to be salt and light and how to live with integrity in a sinful world are far more important. Teaching your children to navigate a world that isn't black and white in a way that glorifies the afore mentioned Someone is your top priority and it happens every day. It happens when you set appropriate boundaries, when your give your children age appropriate responsibility and when you don't rescue them from failure. It happens when they see how you treat others, how you love the unlovable and when you choose not to gossip about your neighbor. When you listen to what your kids hearts say and when you talk about your faith and how it lives in your life. You all do an amazing job as parents and I just wanted to encourage you in that!

That's all for now...
Linda

Everything Seuss!

With the celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday in March, Atlantic's HSAP has been abuzz with all things Seuss! The creative juices are flowing and students are busy creating their own Seuss-like verses and illustrations. It will be fun to include them in this year's Kids' Collection!

Speaking of the Kids' Collection, I would like to remind you that I take submissions to our annual publication in April and then put it together early in May. If your children have any stories, reports, poetry or art work that you would like included, please get those to me in April.

Also in April I will be going back to my roots in music education with your children and teaching them some music appreciation. I plan to use the children's books, The Bat Boy and His Violin, and Zin! Zun! Zin! A Violin!, as well as the orchestral music from the Romantic period, of Peter and the Wolf to teach the kids about the instruments of the orchestra. I will bring in a few instruments for the children to see and we will take a look at how they produce sound as well. Should be fun!

And finally a reminder that the Atlantic Schools will be closed for spring break Friday March 19 through Wednesday March 23. Because of that there will be no HSAP next Tuesday or Wednesday. We will have regular Thursday meetings.

Enjoy the great weather!

Things I've Been Thinking About

Lately I've been thinking about questions and engaging kids in "substantive conversations". This is something we've been learning about in our teacher professional development time. In order to get children to do higher level thinking, I need to frame questions in a way that draws that out.

So, I ask things like; "What do you think about....?" "How is that the same as...?" "How is that different from...?" "Can you give me some examples of...?"

That can be a little bit of a challenge, but here is the thing I've noticed. I want to answer my own questions! I don't always give kids time to think. It's easier to bale them out and answer for them than to restate the question in a different way. And maybe sometimes, I need to model my thinking (without giving them answers) to help them learn how. Wow! This is hard!

Mike Schmoker, keynote speaker at our In-Service on MLK Day, says that we need to spend more time having kids read, discuss and write about increasingly complex fiction and non-fiction materials. He mentioned historical documents. So I thought, "Ok, I'm going to try this with some homeschooled students."

This is the formula he gave;
I. Teach vocabulary from the reading/ provide background information for the text. Provide kids with a question or prompt before they read.

II. Model to kids how mature readers read critically, underlining and annotating text.

III. Let kids read alone. Have them pair up and share throughout the reading as you check for their understanding. Repeat the process till students can finish the reading independently.

IV. Discuss what you read. Then write about it.

So I pulled up Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's famous I Have a Dream speech and tried this with some of your children. We looked up vocabulary words. We discussed the background for this speech and I gave them a prompt; "Look for the repeated phrases as you read."

I read the first part of the speech to the students and tried to model critical thinking. Depending on the age and reading ability of the student, I had them read all or part of the speech independently. I gave the students a highlighter and told them to underline things they like and things they don't understand. We tried to do the discussion part. Then I had the kids write about their own dreams for a better world.

Here's some of what I observed:
I really have to think about how to frame questions to get good discussion going.

It can be really hard to get siblings to have these types of conversations.

Kids have really good thought processes, but sometimes I have to shut my mouth for awhile to see that.

Sometimes kids try to give you lots of reasons why they can't write, (usually just means they don't want to) but usually if you stick at it and help them to brainstorm a little, they come through!

Persevering and doing something hard gives kids (and adults, myself included) confidence for the next hard thing:-)

Technology makes it MUCH easier to look up vocabulary words in this day and age than it was when I was a kid. If Miss Arnold (my 4th grade teacher) had only known that all of those dictionary drills would be obsolete one day...

So, there you have it. Some of the things I've been pondering lately, that is when I'm not thinking about wrestling meets and the next big tournament. Yep, I'm a mom.

Coming up in February; Groundhog Day, Lincoln's birthday and some experiments with pennies, Valentine's Day and maybe a real heart if I can get one from the locker, and of course, the State Wrestling tournament. Hopefully Rob will make it again this year.

Until next time...

Operation Christmas Child

Today several children and I packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We had a lot of fun choosing gifts and toys to put in each box. Next week I will take them to a collection center so that they can go to boys and girls all over the world.

Here's what Natasha said, "I thought it was great, cause other kids will get presents who don't get presents normally. Callie said, "I liked it because it was a lot of fun. Some kids out there don't even have shelter. It's sad and I just wanted to help." Chloe said, "All the kids don't all have money, and I just wanted to help them out, so I did!"

If you would still like to donate, bring your gifts to ITBS testing next week and I'll be sure that they get to the right place. Thanks!

On Teachers Teaching Teachers

I had an interesting and somewhat nerve wracking experience yesterday. It was Wednesday, which means teacher professional development day. So, at promptly 2:30 I sat with my assigned small group consisting of 7 third through fifth grade teachers...and me. We have been using something called Authentic Intellectual Work. We read the manual, and learned how to score lessons, have discussions and try to make each other better teachers. You know, the old, "iron sharpens iron" sort of thing.

Well, it's been quite educational and I've learned a lot from my colleagues in a "hmmm, wonder if that would work with my job" way. Then came yesterday. It was my turn to present one of my lessons to my peers. I took chocolate to share. I took a strong cup of coffee. Our usual leader was sick, and we had a real professional looking lady from the AEA sit in our group. Ahhhhh! My pulse is starting to climb, my palms are sweating. I take a deep breath and start.

First, I have to explain what I do. What is a home school assistance program anyhow? What are my responsibilities and what do I teach? Once I got past that, I handed them my lesson to score. We had our meaningful discussion, and guess what? I lived through it! I also learned some important lessons.

A little nervousness never killed anyone. And people generally like chocolate.

Also, iron does sharpen iron. There are a lot of people out there who are very good at what they do, and I can learn a lot from them.

Next, in trying to explain what I do, I was reminded that a huge part of my job is being a resource to YOU. I love to teach children. They are delightful. BUT, in my job, I am not the primary teacher. You are. Everything I do with your children is just icing on the cake. Yet I wonder if there is more I can do for you. How can I sharpen you?

One suggestion that was made during our discussion yesterday was to really look at the questions we ask children. Are we asking them to merely spit back knowledge and reproduce it? Or can we spend more time on the questions that ask that ask them to use higher order thinking?

In the manual we use to score the tasks that we ask children to do, to get the highest score, we need to meet this criteria:

"The task's dominant expectation is for students to organize, interpret, analyze, synthesize, or evaluate information about (subject area) concepts, themes, theories, or issues rather than merely to reproduce information."

Granted, it's impossible for every lesson to be that in depth. Children need to learn basics like phonics and math facts. It's hard to take a lesson on words in the "at" family and go deeper. BUT, there are many days when our discussion and projects can go deeper. One of the things I love about my little small group of teachers is that they have so many ideas. We all get stuck in a rut and the things we do all of the time become brand new for someone else.

So, I have a challenge for you. Find a lesson that you have taught. Something that you'll likely have to teach again. Talk to someone about how you could make it better. How could you take it to a new level. Have a discussion with another home school mom. Bring something in and talk it over with me. Read some home school blogs. Get out of your comfort zone. Get away from the worksheets from time to time. Zone in on those questions in the teacher's manual that are higher order. And please let me know if there is anything I can do to assist you in your teaching. That's what I'm here for :-)

Have a fantastic day!

Almost October!

Yesterday I saw the most amazing sight! Can you figure out what the black specks are on the side of the dam, near Cody, Wyoming? Look carefully....



They are mountain goats! Is that not incredible! How many days do you feel like you are just barely hanging on? You would think there could be no way these goats could stand, yet not only are they standing and licking salt off the dam, they are climbing higher! Wow, there has to be some kind of object lesson in that. At the very least...hang in there!

So, we're already on the brink of October. We had fun in September celebrating some pretty wacky holidays (how's your piratese?) October has its own share of crazy holidays. Follow the link to find a complete list. Here are a few of my favorites...It's Popcorn Popping Month, Cookie Month & Pizza Month. (food, glorious food!) October 9th is both Fire Prevention Day and Moldy Cheese Day. October 11 shares Columbus Day and Take a Teddy Bear to Work Day. You'll want to hit the local coffee shops for Old Farmers Day on October 12, and then whip up something special for your family on October 14, National Dessert Day. October 16 might be a good day for a vocabulary lesson...Dictionary Day! Then on the next day, have fun with Wear Something Gaudy Day.

Here in the HSAP room, we'll be celebrating National Fire Prevention Week, the first week of the month. Don't forget the tour Genny set up at the local Fire Station on Tuesday the 5th at 2:00. We'll also remember Columbus Day.

One interesting holiday I would like to observe this year is Sweetest Day. Maybe some of you have heard about this, but it is new to me. Celebrated on the third Sunday in October, to many it is sort of a second Valentines Day. It was founded in 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, by an employee of a local candy company. Some people observe the holiday by leaving notes and gifts for people who make their lives special while others choose to bless people who are often forgotten on other holidays. I think it would be neat to make little gifts and write some anonymous notes to leave all over town to brighten people's days. Let me know if you have any ideas of creative ways to commemorate this holiday!

We may also spend some time learning about farming and the harvest season. I may touch on the costume part of Halloween, but I really don't like to put too much emphasis on that holiday.
And of course, there's always football...

So, drink some hot cider, take a crunchy walk through fall leaves and enjoy the new month!

Hooray for Holidays!

Ready or not, here it comes! The new school year is upon us and I want to welcome you to a new year with the Atlantic Home School Assistance Program.

I am sure all of you are knee deep in planning and setting goals for the new year. I know it can be overwhelming, but taking the time to do some long range planning pays off in the long run. Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you in that process.

The theme I have picked for enrichment this year is "Hooray for Holidays!" I am looking forward to planning lessons with your children which revolve around this theme. However, my overall "Big Idea" for the year will be to have students use higher order thinking (HOT) in their learning. We will be busy organizing, interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information instead of merely retrieving and reproducing knowledge. Holidays and celebrations will be our means to the end of thinking deeply.

So, I suppose you already know that September is National Piano Month, National Chicken Month and also National Honey Month! (just to name a few) Of course September 2 is a day you will all want to celebrate - National Blueberry Popsicle Day. You might have your children make plans for Make Your Bed Day on September 11, or National Punctuation Day on September 24. I personally think we should all celebrate on September 19; Talk Like a Pirate Day. A couple of other obscure holidays I found in September are National Chocolate Milk Shake Day on the 12th and Elephant Appreciation Day on the 22nd. (if you would like to see the many other celebrations in September, check out this link)

We are going to start the year out by creating our own original holidays. We will also take a look at Johnny Appleseed whose birthday is September 26 and have some fun with the poetry of Shel Silverstein, whose birthday is September 25. We may also read some books by Tiki and Ronde Barber about my favorite September sport....drumroll please....FOOTBALL!

Ready or not...it's fall!