Archive by Author | Lisa McAfee

Music Education Apps

Apr29
Jazzy Music

Jazzy Music

One of the areas that we are to teach when homeschooling is fine arts, which includes music. I found some apps from The Melody Book that look like so much fun for young students to learn musical instruments.

A Jazzy Day (4.99) is an award-winning ebook that:

  • can be played to be read aloud (great for non-readers or beginning readers)
  • can be read independently
  • learn about different instruments
  • a child can play different instruments

Jazzy ABC (1.99) is a music app that teaches children the alphabet and musical instruments. Children can play each of the instruments too!

Jazzy 123:  Learn to Count Music (1.99) How about not only learning how to count time, but also counting in 10 different languages!

If you want to learn more about the jazzy adventures of this cat duo, click here

Ninth Grade:Preparing for College

Apr29

imagesTwo weeks ago I mentioned preparing for college in the freshman year of high school. Besides planning the academic year there are two more areas you can prepare your student by first,  beginning a reading list and second, planning volunteer opportunities. Universities like to see books students have read that provide background for composition, literature, and history. Admissions counselors are interested in what type of volunteering your scholar has done throughout their high school years and homeschooling provides a great opportunity to do that.

Begin a reading list. Many colleges have a list of books they recommend for high school students to read. Check several colleges that your student is interested in attending or look at various websites. Be discriminating and read summaries of the books. If you are unfamiliar with high school level books or where to begin here are a few websites to help you:

The Great Books This site has several categories to choose from: Ancients, Medieval, Reformation, and Modernity, all from a Christian worldview. There are over 70 free discussion guides and schedules to go along with the recommended books.

Literature recommendations for high school There are more books on this list than your student has time to read. 🙂

pinkmonkey is a website that I have used frequently when teaching junior and senior high school students. Not only does it provide a summary of each chapter, but also has quizzes and essay questions.

Decide on volunteer opportunities. Colleges are looking to see that a student is able to handle more than just schoolwork. Now is the time to investigate areas your student is considering majoring in college. Do you have a budding teacher? How about volunteering as a Sunday School teacher for the younger students or helping with child care during church? Are they interested in a medical field? Contact a hospital about being a hospital volunteer (candy striper). Do you have a student curious in being a vet tech? There are animal shelters that need volunteers to walk dogs and play with cats.

Remember, enjoy the journey! If you have any questions, please ask and I will be glad to help.  I have successfully graduated two young men. One is a college grad and has a degree in the field in which he majored. My other son chose to go in missions for almost three years and successfully helped with the majority of the work in opening a coffee shop.

NEXT WEEK: TRANSCRIPTS

Enjoying the Journey

Apr22
English: Path to Callaughton. This footpath le...

photo: Michael Patterson

I was going to post more information about preparing for college, but I wanted to spend this week encouraging us all to enjoy the journey that we are on. This past week was difficult after the reports came in about the occurrence at the Boston Marathon. How many people were affected by this tragic event? How many will never walk again or live life to its fullest?  How extremely sad!

It’s odd how events all mesh together to give you a different perspective; a better appreciation for what you have as you watch others go through difficult times. I am doing the bible study of One Thousand Gifts and this week we talked about slowing down, not rushing through things and seeing what God has for us. I also talked with Dale last week about enjoying the journey of life as we travel together on this path of life. How thankful I am to have a husband who loves me, two great sons who are figuring out life, amazing students who bring exuberance and laughter to their studies, and friends to laugh and cry with as they move along their road too.

Ecclesiastes 3 says it best.

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and  a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Remember to enjoy the moments you have been given. Enjoy your  journey and encourage someone along the way.

~Lisa

 

Homeschool Conferences/Conventions 2013

Apr16

Nothing invigorates me more about homeschooling that being around a bunch of other homeschool moms. I have found a few conferences that perhaps you would like to attend this year that can give you a boost. I posted this blog earlier, but have updated it for 2013. You will find the conventions and conferences according to the dates in which they will be held.

MACHE Homeschool Conference, St.Paul, Minnesota, April 19-20, 2013

Eastern (Tulsa) Oklahoma Homeschool Convention, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 30-May 1, 2013

Ultimate Homeschool Expo another online option with several events throughout the year. The Ultimate Transformation Expo, May 13-17, 2013.

Tampa Bay Homeschool Conference, Tampa, Florida, May 23-26, 2013

Can’t get away, but would like to attend a home school conference? What about an online option? Schoolhouse Expo , May 28, 2013 will be about homeschooling through high school.

Indiana Home School Convention  May 31-June 1, 2013

Arizona Home Education Convention & Curriculum Fair, Phoenix, Arizona, June 14-15, 2013

CHEO Convention There are some great speakers lined up for this summer. June 20-22, 2013 This will be its 29th year! Akron, Ohio

So, you decided you are going to go. Great, but before you go there are some things you can do in order to make your convention experience worthwhile and enjoyable.

Some Conventions Tips:

Be sure and pre-register so you can save on the admission price.

Do your research before you go! Read what speakers are going to be at the conference, when they are speaking, and what topic are they addressing.  Read reviews of curriculum to find out what you’d like to look at when you attend. Create a list of must-have curriculum and books and a list of would-be-nice-to-have books. Write these items in a notebook and give each one a few lines so you can write comparison prices. Don’t forget art and writing supplies! Estimate how much you can afford to spend.

Don’t become overwhelmed. The curriculum hall at the conventions are monstrously  HUGE! Avoid the urge to buy the first thing you see. Use the notebook of the list you complied of items you are wanting to purchase before you went to the convention. Compare the prices of  vendors of the curriculum. Be sure to note the name of the booth and their location in the vendor hall. For instance: Bravewriter Aisle A next to Rainbow Resource, near the end on the right. I need a landmark, maybe you don’t.

Stick to your estimated budget! I know it is tempting to buy, buy, buy! Only purchase those items you know you will use. If you go home and find that you really needed that skid of construction paper order it online! It would have been difficult to fit it in your vehicle any way.

Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. You are going to be doing a lot of standing and sitting so wear what looks nice and provides maximum comfort.

Pack bottles of water and  healthy snacks. Food and drinks can be expensive and food lines can be long. You want to keep up your energy and brain power for the vendor hall and lectures!

Take a rolling cart, suitcase, or a backpack that you can unload if it gets heavy. The car is probably parked a distance that you are only going to make one or two trips maximum to the car, so be sure and take something that you know can handle the load of a lot of books and supplies. It is also going to be crowded so keep that in mind as you think about maneuverability of you and your burden carrier. 🙂

Consider asking your husband to attend. Dale accompanied me a few times and I appreciated his input about curriculum choices and viewpoint of the speakers we heard. If he can’t go, ask a homeschool friend to accompany you. Make it a fun time to be out and get rejuvenated.

Purchase the CD’s Couldn’t make it to hear all the amazing speakers? Why not buy the CD’s and ask a few friends to share the cost with you? This way you can listen to them whenever you like. If you think they would benefit more homeschool families, perhaps you can ask your local support group to purchase them for your lending library.

NOTE: These have already occurred, but I thought that you could keep them in mind for the future as they are well established conventions. Next year I will remember to update this in January instead of April. Sorry about that!

Great Home School Convention (Southeast), Greenville, South Carolina, March 14-16, 2013

Great Home School Convention  (Midwest) This is right here in Cincinnati, Ohio where I live. 🙂 April 4-6, 2013

Preparing for College: A General Guideline

Apr15

Homeschooling through the high school years can seem daunting, and while it is a serious responsibility, it is also a great joy. I found that these academic  years were extremely rewarding. This is when I saw most of my labor from elementary to junior high come to fruition. Notice I said most, you actually reap the results throughout your lifetime. Do you remember when your child had all those milestones in their education and you were there to see them come to pass? Some of the most fulfilling events were hearing my sons read, hearing them recall multiplication facts, and writing an imaginative story.

Well, I must say that graduating my sons from high school was the capstone for me of all of the years we homeschooled. When my first son stood up on stage with Dale and me,  a great amount of memories were surging through my mind. Talk about wanting to laugh, cry, jump, holler, and fighting the urge to do all of those things when presenting his diploma to him at his high school graduation ceremony was difficult. I decided to let Dale speak as we presented the diploma so as not to embarrass my son too badly. All I said was,” Ian, I am so proud of you! Congratulations! We did it!” and blew a party horn. Humor, celebrating, and brevity all combined into less than one minute. That was a pretty amazing feat for me as I enjoy talking. 🙂

For you who follow a traditional school year, summer vacation will be here in a matter of weeks and you may be at a crossroads where you have to decide what you are going to do for your student when it comes to high school and preparing for college. I will discuss each of these in detail over the next few weeks. But, for this week I’d like to give you some simple advice to have you think about working on a plan that won’t be overwhelming. Preparing your high school student for university studies is not as difficult as it appears with proper planning.

  • Eighth grade- Create a four year high school academic plan. Plan out each year and prepare them for college even if they say they are not interested. It is much easier to take a foreign language when you are in high school than taking it as an adult. The amount of college applicants is quite high and competition is stiff so prepare your daughter’s or son’s academic courses with that goal in mind. Some courses such as physical education and fine arts can be applied toward high school while in junior high.
  • Ninth grade- Begin college prep classes.
  • Tenth grade- Evaluate what colleges your student wants to attend.
  • Eleventh grade- Visit colleges, narrow down the field.
  • Twelth grade- Apply to colleges, warp up any loose ends.

See, that’s not so bad! 🙂 Next week I will talk about ninth grade and how to create a transcript; pick college prep courses; get additional help with courses; start a reading list, and choose volunteer opportunities.