And Now the Cold Stretch of Winter...

Winter can be breathtakingly beautiful...

Winter can be fun!  

But some days, winter is just hard...

And long...

 And sometimes you get a little stir crazy... 

And some days you have cabin fever...

So here are a few links and ideas to help you get through the long winter...

Come to the YMCA for a homeschool family swim this Friday January 17 from 10:00-11:30.

Take a look at this Winter Olympics Mini Unit on CurrClick

Here's a downloadable Martin Luther King Junior Activity Booklet for $1.00

Lots of Snow Fun on Pinterest

Exploring Ice

Inspiring blog by Ann Voskamp on How to Draft an Ideal Day & Get New Habits Down

Free Kindle Books

Cooking with Kids

How about a date night!

And last, but not least; an oldie but a goodie!

Build a fort, snuggle up with hot chocolate and read some books:-)

Happy Winter!

Linda

Hey, Homeschool Dad!

Hey Homeschool dad!

You are “the man” to your family.  You are the foundation on which the whole family is supported and they simply could not do life without you.  It’s important for you to know that you are deeply and heartily appreciated.  Today your wife might have nursed the baby, taught the other children, made a homemade lunch, cleaned up multiple messes, read storybooks and did 5 loads of laundry, but nobody gets as much glory as dad when he plays toss the kids up in the air and gives them whiskery kisses.  You are more than just a breadwinner, you are a hero to your kids.

Because you are “that hero” (shameless VeggieTale reference) your children view you as a powerful role model.  I want to encourage you to set a high vision for them no matter what their ages.  The behavioral expectations for children in society today are appallingly low and part of changing that is setting the bar a bit higher.  Your children need to see you behaving honorably in every circumstance, so they understand clearly what good behavior looks like.  They need to see you try your best at tasks and they need to be encouraged to do the same.  

Let’s be honest and acknowledge that your children are not always going to clear the good behavior bar that you have set for them and that’s when Dad needs to flex his proverbial muscle.  There seems to be no substitute for a father’s influence when it comes to matters of discipline.  When kids know that Dad is going to back Mom up it makes a tremendous difference in their behavior.  So, if Dad checks up on how things went during the day then the parenting power multiplies because the kids know that Mom and Dad are a united front.  

Your relationship with mom is vital to more than just good discipline.  Dr. Mark Lowery, professor at the University of Dallas writes, “In a word, a crucial contribution to the homeschool on the part of the father is his attitude toward his wife.  Needless to say, children pick up very quickly on the quality of relationship between their two parents and are profoundly influenced by it.”  The investment your wife is making in the lives of your children by teaching homeschool lessons, developing character, and instilling lasting values is time consuming.  She may have little time left over to create gourmet meals and keep a spotless home.  Your children are watching and listening to you to find out what you value the most.  

Thank you for all you do, Dad.  You are a busy man with many responsibilities and your family would be lost without your leadership.  You are that hero!  (Sorry. . .the same shameless VeggieTale reference).

Sharing the Love

Last Thursday our home school students took thank-you cards, cookies, hot chocolate and a great big bag of stuffed animals to the Atlantic Police Department.  Chief Green welcomed us and told the

 kids they would distribute the toys to children who participate in Shop With a Cop.

 This morning the kids donated about 25 children's books to the Cass County Memorial Hospital and Atlantic Medical Center.  The books will be distributed throughout waiting rooms. 

We also took a trip to Heritage House where the children visited with 

some of the residents and wished them a Merry Christmas.

A box of 20 pillowcase dresses sewn by our homeschoolers was put in the mail to go to 

Little Dresses for Africa.  Based out of Brownstown, Michigan, the organization

 distributes dresses and shorts to children in orphanages all over the world.

Next Thursday morning starting at 9:30 the children will read books and play with children at the Ann Wickman Center and the preschool classrooms in our building.  We will also be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to send over to Omaha with one of our parents who goes on Fridays to help out the homeless there.  We will finish off the morning with a good old-fashioned Christmas party!  

Tina and I are planning party games, treats and music!  See you then :-)

Writing & Reaching Out

The writing continues in our writer's workshop during December.  The older children are writing an original story using dialogue punctuation in one of the following genre: mystery, old western, comical fiction, comical non-fiction, humorous poem, or a poem that tells a story.  Above are a few of the students composing their stories or poems using laptop computers.

The younger students listened to the book "Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Buehner which is a fun and imaginative book about what snowmen do after dark.  They also heard several short, humorous poems about snowmen.  The students were then challenged to write their own version of what they think snowmen do at night or an original poem about snowmen.  They each received a paper with a snowman template on it and were asked to write around the outside of the snowman. . . and then move to the inside if they needed more space.

When we were done writing we switched gears to our Operation Outreach project.  The younger kids frosted sugar cookies and decorated them with sprinkles.  These were paired with a large jar of cocoa mix and handmade thank you cards for the officers.  The goodies were then taken to the Atlantic Police Department where they were happily received on behalf of the police officers by police chief, Steve Green.  The children also donated stuffed animals to the police officers to share with families they are serving this Christmas.

We returned to the warm, cozy classroom for Brown Bag & a Book.  Linda is reading "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" to the children.  This funny Christmas classic never gets old!

Writer's Workshop

Students in Linda's Writer's Workshop have been analyzing writing by several excellent authors and applying what they learn to their own stories.  

In week one, we read the first two pages of Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare, by Patricia Polacco.  In this compelling opening, the main character uses metaphors to help describe her brother,

" He was the black hole in my universe.  The embarrassment of my life.  The frog in my punch bowl. The spider in my cereal. The wart on my cookie. The slug in my jello. The snake in my soup...."

Students discussed how this was a much more effective way to hook in the reader than just to say, "My brother was awful."  

In week two we looked at a few pages from chapter 11 of Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo.  In this chapter, the author describes a dog's fear of thunderstorms.  We discovered that the author doesn't just tell the reader that the dog is scared.  She shows us how he reacts and uses interesting words like "pathological fear" and "sproi-i-ing" as well as dialogue like " Winn Dixie came shooting back out of my room went running right past me and I screamed, 'Daddy, watch out!'"

Students have all finished a writing plan and started on their own story.  We have three more weeks to work on writing, editing and revising our writing.  Our goal is to have a final draft before Christmas.  Some students may need to work on their writing at home in order to meet that goal. 

This week we are going to spend some time looking at the way author Tomie dePaola uses dialogue in his book, Big Anthony.  We should discover that writing dialogue into your story adds the illusion of reality.   It also makes reading easier by breaking up large blocks of writing and adding white space to the page.  Writing dialogue is also a great way for a writer to reveal details about characters, share secrets and develop relationships between characters among other things.   (from Eight Good Reasons To Use Dialogue by Jenna Kernan)

Remember to ask your child about their writing.  Encourage them to get their ideas down on paper without worrying too much about mechanics to start with.  That keeps the student's creativity flowing.  They can go back and edit to fix spelling, capitalization and punctuation.  Happy Writing!

Little Elves Have Been Busy :-)

Shoeboxes packed for Operation Christmas Child

Christmas cards to send to soldiers

Little Dresses for Africa

Cinnamon & applesauce ornaments to give away in December

Operation Outreach

At 10:00 on Thursday November 7, Tina and I will begin a new Enrichment Class called Operation Outreach.  Our goal is to get the kids excited about serving others and put into action ideas that they come up with themselves. 

We will spend the first week making some ornaments to share in our community.  We will also be making Christmas cards to send to men and women who are serving our country in the military overseas.  

During week two, students will be packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  OCC sends shoebox gifts to children all over the world for Christmas.  Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have received gifts through this program.  This is something we have been doing since 2008.  Our home school assistance program has provided somewhere around 40 shoebox gifts over the past years.  That translates to 40 children who may have received their first Christmas gift because of the love of Atlantic homeschoolers.  

Week three we are going to put the students to work brainstorming ideas to reach out to our community.  People take more ownership in something that they plan and are invested in.  We want the kids to take some ownership and do something for our community.  We have no idea where this will lead, but we are excited to see what the kids come up with.  We will spend the first two Thursdays in December (weeks 4 & 5 of the class) carrying out whatever plan the students come up with.

There are so many good reasons for being involved in this type of project.  This morning I was reading some research done at the University of Michigan, and the benefits range from psychological to social to cognitive.  Most of all though, I think this type of projects molds our hearts.  We all come to this world with a great big ME problem.  We are by nature self-centered, greedy and prideful.  Doing this type of project gets my eyes off of me and onto something bigger.  It helps me to see that I live in community with others.  When I am helping others, I am also helping myself.

With this in mind, and the upcoming holiday season, I have started a couple of new boards on Pinterest. One has service ideas and the other has holiday ideas.  Feel free to use these resources in your family to bring more meaning to this time of year.

And finally, let me just invite you to bring your kids to Operation Outreach.  We start this Thursday at 10:00.  All I ask is that you let Tina or I know you are coming so that we have enough supplies for everyone!  

Blessings!

Linda 

La