Homeschool Cyber-News #3 August 1, 1995 Hello out there in homeschool land! This newsletter is sent to all known homeschoolers on AOL, those who've posted, those who've asked to be on the list, those whose friends recommended them...if you don't want it, just hit "reply" and ask to be taken off the list. It will hardly hurt our feelings at all. If we missed your friend, send us the address! If you want #1 or #2, just ask. There are homeschool chats throughout the week you might want to visit. Chats are live, real-time, discussions with as many people as show up. Sometimes they're slow and sweet, and sometimes they're fast-paced and confusing, but it's a way to get together with other homeschoolers and get quick ideas and just to socialize with people you don't have to explain so much to. All chat times are Eastern time. Check appropriate bulletin boards for topics. Monday PHS Chat (Host: PHS Renee) 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, Homefront Hall Christian focus; curriculum series in progress August 7: Calvert! Wednesday Kids' Chats (Hosts: KTrautman and Elizabyrd ) 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, The Shade Tree Wednesday Chat (Host: DACunefare) 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, Homefront Hall Thursday Mid-Day PHS Chat (PHS Renee) 2:00 - 4:00 pm Eastern time, Homefront Hall Christian focus/Practical Homeschooling Magazine August 3: WinterJasm will be on hand to talk about her experiences with CLASS - Christian Liberty Academy Satellite Schools. Thursday Evening Chat (Host: TinaNH) 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. Eastern time, Homefront Hall August 3: "Social Studies"--history, geography, cultures, etc. Friday HEM Chat (Host: ShariHenry) 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, The Shade Tree Home Education Magazine, general chat, no protocol-- get to know each other, share resources, encouragement, etc. DO-IT-YOURSELF CHATS If you would like to have a chat at another time, here's how! Decide on a time and name a private room (make up a name). To get to a private room, go to LOBBY (under the "go to" pulldown), and there will be a "ROOMS" icon. Click it. In there os another icon, "PRIVATE ROOMS." Click it and type in the name you and your friends have decided on. There you'll be! These won't be "real" AOL-sponsored chats, so please don't put the name of your private room out in public anywhere. By e-mail, you might invite people whose posts you've enjoyed, or you could say on a bulletin board that you'd like to have a private chat about whatever subject, and that anyone who's interested can e-mail you for the room-name. It needs to be clearly private, and not given the appearance of sponsorship by AOL, PHS, or HEM. ________________________ THANKS Thanks for your terrific information and for the time you're taking. We're all in this together and one of the greatest benefits I've discovered from homeschooling (aside from the obvious emotional benefits, etc. to our children), is connecting with other dedicated, sharing parents who are willing to make differences in others' lives. Spirit2L (Linda Davis) Thank you, thank you for the newsletter. Going on AOL is probably the best investment I'll make as a new homeschooler. KBaker614 (Kathy) _______________ WINNING DINNER PARTY: Oh - to be able to invite four people of my choice to a dinner party....The first person that I would invite would be Chris Davis of the Elijah Company. Chris' tape on how to not teach like the public schools really changed our school - and I would love to have him explain to us (like he tried to tell me on the phone yesterday) - why it's ok to have a hooded snake (ok - so it's non-poisonous) living right near our front door, and how they make such good pets. What an "education" as he tried to persuade me of this! I would also invite Gayle Grass, the public school teacher with 20+ years teaching, who convinced us to home-school in the first place. She's taught me more about natural teaching opportunities than anyone else I can think of. I would also invite my mother-in-law. She gave me a picture of what homeschooling could be like, by working with her nephews "after school" when they were growing up - and it appeared to be fun. Finally, I would invite Bill Butterworth who wrote the book "The Peanut Butter Family Homeschool." His sense of humor would help him appreciate the members and activities that go on here at our "Flint Funny Farm" - and he has a way of reminding us of just why we do what we do. Our menu would be simple - make it yourself subs (after all - everyone does have different tastes) - and root beer floats or coffee. Maybe we'd play volleyball and watch the kids shoot up their model rockets (which Chris' son gave Eric) - and we'd probably talk until 2:00 in the morning - with the kids constantly interrupting with a joke or question because they'd know it would be "safe." That's my dinner party - wish I could invite y'all to it also! Oh yes - forgot to tell you - there would be a tornado warning in effect and we'd have to retire to the "scaredy hole/fraidy hole" (aka storm cellar) and tell our jokes by candlelight w/ the country radio station playing in the background - so we could know when the storm passed over. We'd watch for snakes as we ran to the shelter - and of course we would have seen the funnel cloud off in the distance. My MIL would have picked up the kitten 'cause that's the kind of heart she has - and my dh would have been getting the dogs to come with us 'cause that's the kind of heart he has. Anyone wanna come now? The dinner party is the artistry of HS Flints, who will be able to choose a prize from our growing store of Fine Prizes, as will Malaika1, submittor of: THE WINNING RECIPE: This is one of my kids' favorites! Even the 5-yr-old can help with a kitchen knife. OCTOPUS Cut a raw hot dog in half, leaving you with two short hot dogs. Starting 1/2" from end, cut each half in half lengthwise, turning and cutting until you have 8 "legs." Pop into boiling water. The legs curl up and it will look just like a little octopus!!! Malaika1 and HS Flints' prize selections will be announced in "Forum Input and Announcements" in Homeschooling Connection, in Issue #4 as well. ______________ From the SUNSHINE DRAWER I'd like to share an idea with all of you. In our kitchen, which is more like an open access culinary workshop than anything traditional, I have a built-in oversized file drawer. It contains many headings like....home finances, medical receipts, homeschool groups, homeschool portfolios, church, vet., etc., etc. My favorite file is my "Sunshine File." Since the job of full-time homemaker/home-educator has little compensation in any material forms (paychecks, quarterly work evaluations, promotions) collecting little treasures is a way to remind oneself of the richness and value of one's life. We all need a little pat on the back now and then. This idea was originally brought to my attention at a La Leche League workshop many years ago. Some of my favorite entries are from LLL sources. My "Sunshine File" consists mostly of personal notes or thank you's for meals brought to new moms, for volunteering at church, touching or humorous birthday cards, special Bible verses that keep me motivated or phonetically spelled love notes from my offspring found taped to the inside of a kitchen cabinet or next to my toothbrush! The remainder of the file contains favorite quips and quotes I've collected. I'd like to share some of my favorites with all of the Homeschool Cybernewsians.The original source is given credit. When I was unsure of the source I followed the entry with a (?). Here goes.... "My interruptions are my job." (?) "An immaculate house is the sign of a misspent life." (?) "You Can Postpone Anything But Love" (title of a book?) "TWO IN BED When my brother Tommy Sleeps in bed with me, He doubles up And makes himself exactly like a V And 'cause the bed is not so wide, A part of him is on my side." (A.B. Ross/La Leche League) "A MOTHER'S PRAYER Lord, May I always have loving arms to cradle my child In comfort and safety. May I always speak loving words When he questions or tests my endurance. May I always do loving things for him, And respond lovingly to his needs. But most of all- When I falter in these endeavours, (and I am sure that at times, I shall) May I always have a loving heart To guide me back to my chosen path Of mothering my child with love. Lord, May I always be a loving mother." (Debra Stubel/Midland,Ontario) Keep up the good work at Homeschool Cyber-News!! Fondly, Robin (M GIRLS 4) *************************************** HIGH SCHOOL INFORMATION ON WWW Many students enter homeschooling for the first time at the high school level. There is quite a bit of information on this subject on Clonlara Schools WWW page at http://web.grfn.org/education/clonlara. LearnTree Cyberhigh--it's on the net. It's exactly what it sounds like -- all of high school over the computer. The have a wonderful homepage -- access to all kinds of high school/adult instructional and researchy stuff. I read the novel Flatland right off the screen a couple of days ago from their homepage. The downside is that the organizers want big $$$ for each student enrolled.... the homepage gives better access to great stuff than I've seen on most other homepages. CafiCohen __________________________________________ **Qulifications?** I just received a form from my local school district inquiring about my "qulifications" to homeschool. Well for one thing, we can spell! LISAWOOD [Jeri] __________ PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOKS ON LINE There are old books which are no longer copyrighted that can be downloaded. Go to the Mac Education Forum (Keyword MED), and then look in the scrolling window for "Electronic Books." If you are on Windows, look for those that say "Any Text Reader." Most are OK for any platform. Open the files with a wordprocessor capable of handling large documents -- Word or WordPerfect or a page layout program. The nice thing I find is that you can make the type large enough for a young but very good reader. My son cringes at the small type offered in some classical books. You can get creative and leave room for illustrations, or bind them up prettily. RETROMOM (Christine) ___________ I TAUGHT MY FOUR-YEAR-OLD TO DO ADDITION Honestly, this is not a clipping from a tabloid magazine! I came up with a method to teach my daughter addition and I'd like to share it with you. I have explained it to several friends who have tried it on their children with exciting success. To begin with, your child needs to be able to count and recognize numbers (at least up to 10). To start with, write the numbers 0 through 10 in a row on a piece of paper. Be sure to leave enough space between the numbers so that they are distinct and that you write them as "standard" as possible (mine looked like the numbers on my keyboard). On another piece of paper, write the addition problem. For example, 2 + 4 . Read the problem to the child to make sure he or she is focused on what is going on. Now tell your child to put a finger on the 2. Tell your child that "plus four" means that your finger hops four numbers to the right. Make sure your child is counting the hops and only hopping one number at a time. After four hops, ask your child what number his or her finger is on. Yes! 2 + 4 = 6! With practice your child can solve any simple addition problem you can write down. Once your child can recognize and count to higher numbers, you can write down a bigger number line for "hopping." When my daughter got past 20, I pulled out the soft cloth measuring tape from my sewing kit. The inches side goes past 50 and the centimeter side goes past 150. That should keep her busy for a while! Once your child is fully familiar with addition, you can teach subtraction: 6 - 4, for example. Start on 6 and explain that "minus four" means hopping to the left. Yes! The answer is 2. I'd love any feedback, negative or positive. Does this work for your kids? Tracky ____________ ABOUT THE FORUM IN GENERAL Hi, Thanks for making me feel welcome! I have been lurking for awhile now and come to the homeschooling forums when I need a dose of homeschool/mothering support. You have a very valuable forum, which, together with PHS, has been "worth the price of admission", and the thing which, aside from the email feature of AOL, keeps me subscribing. KathyThile ___________ LEARNING BY DOING I have read several of the Moore's books and just requested information on The Moore Formula. They are the ones that convinced me that formal education and strict curricula could actually be deterimental to my children. So we put away the workbooks and I am now teaching my almost-6 year old how to do her own laundry. She loves it! She has her own laundry soap, her own box of dryer sheets and her own Shout It Out! KarieJ (Karie) __________ Subj: Funny words From: PSoroosh (Pam) My 4 yo just came and asked me to listen to the song she had "rememberized". _____ Subj: Kidwords From: LADerrick (Laura) Sarah (19 mo.) has been saying a word I couldn't figure out for a couple of days and today I finally "got it." She was asking for a "stabbie" and wanted desperately to try out a fork instead of a spoon! ___________ Subj: Re:Deschooling ourselves From: MsTerrE Ian and little Caleb were watching "The Magic Schoolbus" today. Caleb asked why Ms. Frizzle didn't just tell the kids what they needed to know. Ian said, "Ms. Frizzle is like a homeschool teacher--she wants the kids to find out for themselves." _____________ MAKING CHORES A GAME We've continually tried to reinforce the thinking of all of us, as a family, working together as a team to get everything done that needs to get done in a day. Some days, I'll fill out a paper -- similar to the "hangman" game -- with blanks. Also on the paper are a list of "chores" that need to be completed that day. As the "chores" are done, a letter is filled in the blanks. This usually is a special treat/event(such a minature golfing, dairy queen, movie, etc.) that we have all worked together -- as a team -- to "earn". I am still amazed at how well this motivates my girls -- and I never have to remind them of anything!!! While I realize that some days will be easier than others between hs and work, I'm really looking forward to all of it. I mean, after all, isn't life in general the same? Sha8ee (Marcia) _____________ READING LATER I have friends who began h/s-ing a year or two before we did. Their oldest child, a boy, did not read until he was almost 11. They were patient and just kept letting him do the kinds of projects he wanted, and helped him by reading to him when necessary. Today, he is successfully tackling chemistry and physics books on his own, as well as very advanced English literature. I know it's hard to wait when the entire Western world seems to think that all children should read at 6 or 7, but those who wait often become the *best* readers. BRGFB (Barbara B.) ____________________________________________ INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD You've read all the books. You may even have seen the movie. Now, you can experience the "Indian in the Cupboard" online! At keyword: INDIAN, you can find the magical world of Omri and his Indian. There are adventure beginnings to spark your imagination, movie previews and pictures to download, and even a list of "neat stuff" you can get that's connected to the movie (books, etc.). You can learn all about the actors in the movie, and find out about the making of a movie, by clicking on Movie Beat. You can read great information about Indians from the Onondaga clans, and even read an Indian legend or two. The area promises upcoming online events with the actors and filmakers. Check it out....hmmm, you might even use this area, in conjunction with some other great books, to create a unit study. :-) MyCamelot (Jeri) ___________ LEARNING WITHOUT BEING TAUGHT In an interview in Dirty Linen (Folk and World music magazine), the Irish folk singer Maura O'Connell talks about her decision to leave an amiable relationship with Warner records to start her own record company. She says: "I found out something in myself that I think is very pertinent to me and my music. I'm a really good learner, but I'm not very good at being taught. I have to go at my own pace to learn things. And I think that's the way for someone like me. It's to do it yourself and make your mistakes and learn things slowly but surely." Sounded familiar. BTW - she's got a new album called Stories coming out sometime soon with songs by people like John Gorka, Shawn Colvin, and Mary Chapin-Carpenter. Naykki (Laura) ___________ HOMESCHOOLING IN AUSTRALIA (passed to us from an e-mail list) Today our city's major daily broadsheet newspaper (The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, Australia) had a front page item about a home schooled 18-year-old boy from mid-western New South Wales being accepted for enrollment at Princeton University, USA, to undertake a dual degree in aerospace engineering and physics, plus being awarded a scholarship for four years tuition and accommodation. This story continued onto page 6 then there were another couple of articles on home schooling taking most of page 18. I've never seen such coverage given to home schooling in our mainstream press. Also stated was that for the state of New South Wales the number of registered home schoolers was up from 250 in 1991 to 1195 at present, with more families awaiting registration. Appears the move to home schooling is not just happening in the USA. Patrick (Sydney, Australia) ____________ WHAT IS A LOG? A "log" lets you save all the text that appears on your screen while you are using AOL. You can log a chat session, instant messages (IM's) and posts from any of the folders. Logging can be a HUGE time and money saver, because it allows you to speed through screens, then read and respond to them off-line, at your leisure. (You should see how much people's AOL bills drop once they figure out how to log!!) Logging is also useful from a security standpoint. If you encounter a person in a chat room who is violating the AOL Terms of Service (TOS) by using profanity, harassing members, etc., it's extremely useful to AOL staff to have a record of what was done -- and who did it! For parents, logging your kid's sessions gives you an opportunity to observe what they're talking about and who they're spending their online time with, especially when you're not sitting there beside them. HOW TO LOG The method used to create a log is largely the same for Windows (W) or Macintosh (M) computer users. Where they differ, I'll indicate with (W) or (M). Logs can be turned on at any time from within the AOL application. 1. From the FILE Menu, choose the Logs (M) or Logging (W) menu option. An option window appears on your screen. You can choose either System (M) or Session (W) logging (which will record most text you see on screen in AOL: file lists and descriptions, the contents of folders -- basically anything you see on screen, except graphics) or Chat logging (which will log any conversation you have in public or private chat rooms). 2. Click on the Open button. (Windows users can also choose to record IMs by selecting that option now; Mac users have a separate IM log option.) The default log filename will appear on your screen. It's a good idea (especially if you log frequently) to choose a filename other than the default to make it easier for you to locate the log later. For chats, I like to use MMDDchat.log as a file name, where MMDD = the month and day of the chat. For logging posts, I use a name that relates to the stuff I'm logging. 3. If necessary, change the folder (M) or directory (W) where you want to save the log file (if you don't want it saved to the default one). Once you've done this, you can close up the Logging option window and go on your merry way to the chat and/or folders. (BTW, you can log chats and folders at the same time by selecting both options.) REMINDER: If you're logging posts in folders, DON'T sit there and read them online!!! (I know it's SO tempting, but it kinda defeats the whole purpose of logging!!!) Just keep clicking the mouse button on Next, and avert your eyes... :-) 4. When you're finished, go back to the File menu, select the Logs/Logging option and CLOSE the log(s) you have open. If you don't, the AOL application will close it for you when you exit the program; but it's cleaner if you do it yourself. (On several occasions I've left my log on only to find all sorts of junky stuff at the end that I didn't really want to log -- no big deal, just took a little time to straighten up the file.) READING THE LOG OFF-LINE Now that you've created this wonderful log, how do you use it, you ask? Well, you can use the Open option from the File menu in AOL (you can do this without connecting to the network), but if the log is large, it won't be able to display the whole thing. In that case, use a word processor (WP) program (such as MS Word, WordPerfect, etc.) to open and read the file. One last bit of advice -- from time to time, clean up (delete) the log files you no longer need or use. They can pile up quickly and eat up a lot of disk space! Well, that's the basics of logging. If you have any questions, or if you have any suggestions for improving these directions for others to use in the future, please let the forum hosts know, and we'll do what we can to help you out. TinaNH Here's the end; thanks for reading. If you have homeschool friends on AOL who didn't get this and would like to, or if you would like Issues #1 or #2, or if you'd like to submit something for a future issue, e-mail HS Mail or SandraDodd, the friendly editor.