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     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!!!<G>

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.