At first, I saw a commercial about Cosmeo on TV the other night, then yesterday got a CD ROM in the mail with a free 30day trail. I looked through it & then had the boys give me feedback. I signed up for the free 30 day trial & was clicking on various things (went to Curriculum Explorer, then Math 9th grade) which brought up a lot of resources videos, one of which was a Standard Deviants video (I love these videos!) I can tell this will assist us in so many ways. The boys have already started using it, looking up things they want to know & can access it from any computer, not just the ones in our home.
FYI: You can have 4 students on your account & utilize things from different grades, for each student.
When I called to ask questions, I was told that they have a site just for homeschooling & schools on www.unitedstreaming.com which I remember looking up a year or so ago. I went back to revisit it before signing up for Cosemo (They are both by the Discovery channel, so have the same info) I just found Cosmeo to be more fun & user friendly - which will keep my boys interested :)
Oooohh!! I am so very grateful for this & it's at a great price; you can pick from monthly or annul payment.
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From the website http:// www.cosmeo.com :
Cosmeo is still the online interactive homework help tool that inspires and engages students with illuminating videos from Discovery Channel. Tools like Brain Games and WebMath extend learning beyond the classroom and help students capture the limitless potential of learning.
Cosmeo equips and motivates students to achieve in school and in life with online homework help tools that are designed to improve academic performance. Cosmeo empowers students to believe that they can.
Cosmeo is the unique homework help tool brought to you by Discovery Channel. It is designed to help students master challenging concepts and inspires your student to say, "I can."
Why Cosmeo? Cosmeo can:
This section also needs updating. (Every day brings new & exciting things we are doing & learning. The boys are thriving with this way of learning & I am so grateful! The following were the first steps we took as homeschoolers. Call me if you want an update.) It is awesome!
Until I have the time to add all I feel is necessary to this part, (maybe when they enter college) I just wanted to say how blessed I am everyday to be able to homeschool the boys! It is so nice when we can stay at home! ( I am so grateful that I can homeschool them & so naturally work my home-based business (Identity Theft Protection & Restoration Services & Prepaid Legal Services Inc.( www.prepaidlegal.com/hub
WHNE WE STILL LIVED IN MARYLAND :-)
There were many reasons for my decision to homeschool, but what it came right down to, after two years of public school, was that I felt deep down in my bones that I had to do it. As I got started, many wonderful people came into my life by way of a homeschool support group. (Now I am a part of many groups, but that first one is always near & dear to my heart!) These outstanding individuals are devoted to their children & the community. There are many events & field trips and a lot of socialization. (to view a great article on socialization go to: http://www.tnhomeed.com
I just started using "English From the Roots UP", Volumes I & II ( I love all the things I learn as we homeschool!) Christopher Corey has recently started to teach himself French. After he purchased the book from The Princeton Review; Study Smart Junior; Study Your Way to Stardom. *Earn better grade with our special study tips and techniques *Includes help with taking notes, test-taking, making a schedule, reading to remember, using flashcards and more* For grades 6-8 by Chris Kensler. When he picked this out, he was in the middle of 3rd grade & just loved how the book was composed. They spoke French in parts of it & so his interest in the French Language began. I purchased at the library (for a total of $.50) two books, one of Conversational French & the other to teach yourself French. He loves them. We recently got Jump Start Languages, So now, in addition to Latin, we are learning French, Japanese & Spanish. More blessings come to us each day!!!! (FYI - they are now in 6th grade, but do work for grades 6 - 10th)
One of the Homeschool Communities we enjoy, has a planned event once a month. The first event we attended the 9-12 year old group & high school aged kids had the idea to write and perform a play about two kids going through time & helping different people in history. The costumes were great & the set, props, sound system & stage were very well done. (We were entertained before the play & during intermission by some great dancers!) When the play was over, they all had an awesome time playing in the pool, & when it got dark they moved the fun inside & had a great time playing different games. Meanwhile, I received many great tips & information about homeschooling. I learned about different curriculums & the different ways people teach & go through their day. I am so grateful for this group! That month the group went to a water park. The home-schooled children I have met seem to have a great respect for themselves & others and are able to relate to children & adults of all ages in a very different way than children in a traditional school environment. We also use many internet sites & T.V. programs, which really make learning fun for them. They love to learn for they joy of learning and develop the skills to learn what they desire. They are a joy to be around!
Book Corner:
David Albert, author of And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in Homeschooling and Community-Based Education, is an example of the great speakers at the monthly meetings of Howard County Home Educators. "In this clear and often magical account of how David and Ellen helped their kids find ways to take charge of their own education, a universal lesson is written: real learning is much richer and more mysterious than any school can encompass" -- John Taylor Gatto
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IF YOU ONLY READ ONE BOOK ABOUT WHY TO HOMESCHOOL, THIS WOULD BE IT:
John Gatto is the author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. John Taylor Gatto was an award-winning public school teacher of 26 years. (I have read a most of this book and it has been very illumining! An excerpt is at www.cantrip.org/gatto.html)
He also has another great one : The Underground History of American Education, which you can read at http://www.rit.edu/~cma8660
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I am also enjoying Children Are From Heaven - Positive Parenting Skills for Raising Cooperative, Confident, and Compassionate Children, by John Gray, PhD.
Another book that has come to my attention is Trust the Children, An Activity Guide for Homeschooling and Alternate Learning by Anna Kealoha. I have been homeschooling for over 4 years, and I am so grateful for this book. It has so many great suggestions. I feel I will be able to really expand our fun of learning this year. For instance, last year for math we used a widely know math program, but it was still set up like that used in a traditional school setting, which was okay for the beginning of homeschooling because it was familiar to the boy, but soon it became very tedious & I was finding resistance in attitude from them, because it was boring. They pick up everything very quickly, & math became boring. This year we are using Math-U-See, which is like a dream come true! See their website: www.mathusee.com . During the "normal" school year (we enjoy homeschooling year round, so when I say "normal" that refers to the time frame of public schools) they attend a Math Olympiad Class every week, which is an international activity. Our team participates in the Middle and Elementary Level Olympiads (MOES) and the American Math Competition (AMC8). The Elementary Olympiad is for elementary students up to sixth grade. Most students who take it are in fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, but some younger ones also try each year. The Middle/Elementary Olympiad goes through eighth grade. There are five Olympiads quizzes, each twenty-five minutes long, one a month starting in November.
The AMC-8 is for students in eighth grade or below. Most who take it are in eighth, seventh, or sixth grade, but younger students are welcome to participate if they feel comfortable with the idea. The exam is given in November 2001. They practice with Olympiads and AMC exams from previous years, learn problem-solving techniques, and do math games At the end of the academic year, club members who complete the competitions will receive certificates (some may receive awards, too). Their teacher, Catherine Assaro, just started homeschool her 13-year-old daughter. Catherine has a PhD in Chemical Physics & a MA in Physics, both from Harvard & a BS with Honors in Chemistry form UCLA. Her research involves using quantum theory to describe the behavior of atoms & molecules. In addition, she is a well-published science fiction writer, has published science papers & was a physics professor until 1990 when she established Molecudyne Research, which she currently runs. She just won the Nebula Award for her new book Quantum Rose. She is just an example of the many (Spanish teacher, Hand bell Choir, Art, P.E., Vocal Sight Reading, Chess, etc.) awesome teachers they see each week, including children with whom they have many opportunities to play & socialize. J This doesn't even include the field trips & visits to the Mayland Science Center, Naional Aquarium, the lists go on & on, the possiblities for fun & learning are endlist!
We are enjoying a chess club every week, organized by the East Columbia Library. There, Women's International Master Battsetseg Tsaagan & player Scott Doughty instrucht 9 - 17 year olds while having simultaneous games & open play, then 2 more hours of open play. We are enjoying the lessons & play. I'm learning Spanish & Sign Language right along with the boys, there is a lot is homework that I must first learn, then teach them.
Motherhood, it's not just a job, it's an adverture, with lots of great hugs & smiles as benefits J We give of ourselves freely, our love, all our time& energy invested in them for their & the planet's harmonious, brighter future J I am so grateful for the opprotunity to do all I can for them. :-)
MORE ON BOOKS...
In the book Trust the Children, An Activity Guide for Homeschooling and Alternate Learning by Anna Kealoha, it has many great suggestions for teaching math.
A book on my list to get is: Homeschool Your Child for Free: More Than 1,200 Smart, Effective, and Practical Resources for Home Education on the Internet and Beyond by Laura Maery Gold, Joan M. Zielinski, with this book & all the great ideas & curricula for each subject that come to me via the internet for free, this proves to be a year full of blessings & great times!
One of the many things I like about home educating is that it does not involve "failing". If there is difficulty in a certain area, then we can work more on that area until achieving an understanding of the concept. There is no comparison to other students. Many people feel that schools can disturb the intellect and creativity kids naturally possess by making them too concerned with pleasing adults, following orders, avoiding mistakes, competition, and failing. I desire my children be encouraged to learn for the satisfaction of knowing, and because of interest in an area. Not to learn just enough to do well on a test, to make a good grade & then quickly move to the next subject, without really experiencing or getting to delve into the subject more if desired & to enjoy the process. Everyone learns at different rates. In a home learning environment, I am able to respect the individuality of my children, and encouraged them as they learn. (2-1 is a great ratio).
Something else that added to my decision to homeschool was that the boys would complain (At least 2-3 times a week) that the whole class would be punished for the misbehaving of a few. When a couple people would act up, or not do what they were supposed to, the whole class would miss some or all of recess. I just do not feel that is right. The person or people causing the disturbance should be the ones to get punished (common sense to me) Punishing the whole group seems to set up a feeling of loss of control of individuality & hopelessness in that it doesn't matter what you do, if someone else is doing wrong you'll get punished for it also. After a long time of this one might feel, even when they do right, there is the possibility they will be punished for what someone else is doing, so they might as well act up too.
When they were in school, 7am-8am was a very stressful time in the house. They had to catch the bus at 8:05 and even though we would get lunches & other things prepared the night before, most mornings were met with great resistance, constant rushing around and making sure they had a good breakfast before they had to leave. Being in elementary school, they had to be ready & out the door at 8:00 am. It bothered me to know that they were only allotted a half-hour time slot for lunch, many times getting to the cafeteria late and rushed through it to get to recess. As a volunteer, I saw many times the class go to lunch late & if children did not finish their class work at the same time everyone else did, they had to stay behind and finish their work until it was completed before they could join their class for lunch! Our bodies need to have a non-stressful environment to promote proper food digestion. Since I am homeschooling the boys now can help prepare their lunch & are afforded the time to eat in a relaxed, comfortable setting & to talk about whatever's on their minds!
I also did not like that the kids in middle school have be at the bus stop by 7:20, & the high school kids that have to be there by 7:10. (The time school starts seems way too early to me. When I was in school elementary, it went up to the 6th grade and school went from 9:00am -3:15; I don't want my children in Middle School when they are in 6th grade. I feel children that age are not ready for the things commonly experienced in that environment.) By the time the kids got home at 3:20 they were tired and hungry. They would eat, sometimes play outside, and then rest, by then it was time to finish any homework and get ready for bed.