| Mount Vernon Homeschoolers |
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September 2003 Newsletter #36 Editor: Suzanne |
WelcomeWe look forward to the new year with our children progressing in activities and moving toward graduation. We have experienced testing at our house and found some interesting information about our learners. In the past my husband and I have resisted testing because three of our children were adopted from Russia and they have not been exposed to vocabulary or mores of our culture. And, they have made wonderful strides in learning English as a second language and learning about our culture in America. We reduced one a grade level for his problems with fourth grade curriculum. Some of you asked what would happen if one of us admitted to unschooling. Well, Fairfax Schools will put you on probation. Especially, if your teens don't want to share writing journals because they have issues with other people reading journals and your narrative of learning and admittance of a special needs student is not acceptable. I used to do okay portfolios and this year we are testing with outside help. And, as soon as the testing center returns those tests, we will submit them. And, the editor of this newsletter will choose to be the Underground Homeschooler after this. Our experienceWe put our three kids in school when they arrived in America:
We all have our stories of why we have chosen homeschool for our children. It is best for personal reasons. Don't give up and don't feel pressured by relatives to give up a winning goal. There is a real chance that we can avoid harm to our children with a different plan for the education and the special time we can spend to help them become individual thinkers. I hear a lot about my children being outside the box and my fear is they will be trapped in a box and their love of learning will be crushed. We have come through some rough years and my kids have grown and changed. They work together as a unit and they show respect for each other's difference. The older one's help and share knowledge. It's pleasant to see the interaction. And, nice not to have to yell all the time, lately. Of course, the queen of the dirty look is on the throne. Quite often the crown princesses will do the honors and Mom doesn't have to be the Fool. Mount Vernon Homeschoolers have been around for quite a while. We started with the help of a support group. Some of you are acquainted with the leaders from the past. The ladies who provided Support Group meetings in their homes and welcomed eclectic blends of homeschooled families. We hope to remain friends and acquaintances although some have moved away and we continue with new groups coming to join us and our children. We have a core group of families who have found a way to entertain, provide learning experiences and enjoy one another's company. The core group provides support and comfort and keeps growing and changing with enthusiasm. It could be the children who progress with such joy and enthusiasm. They include the younger children, they play and learn and tell us what they like us to provide and they continue to amaze us with the joy of learning. We want life time learners with curiosity. Support GroupThe editor has learned from the parents. Patience, glee and understanding of learning styles. We welcome those who join us and the way to join is to provide an e-mail to the editor that has a phone number and name and come to where the meetings are being held. We have ages from three to seventeen. We provide a calendar of activities scheduled for the year. We have made plans with the children telling us what they might want most. Some people are still on vacation and we will check with them to see if they want to add or change the plans this year. Editor has agreed to post the newsletter between the first and the fifth of each month. We continue with information to aid homeschoolers set up and find helpful hints and leads to resources. If a person reads the archives, they would find years of activity and information.ActivitiesThe children are used to running away with the activities. All children have parents with them, And, all children are helped by all parents. We ask that all children talk and play with each other and accept each other with care toward feelings. We have a rule: No One Can Say, You Can't Play (The bio-babe was the reason for the rule, she didn't like being left out. The book was in the library and we read it aloud.) Outside the meeting, parents can make play dates and arrange to have parties. But, we hope everyone is considerate of feelings and others are not left out or feel left out. And, invite everybody to party. We party hardy.
PlaygroupSomeone looking for a play group might be surprised by the inclusion of all children in Science Fair or Valentine making or the choice of two movies, one for teens and one for younger children. And, if appropriate the teens watch the younger movie and the younger children find a game to play if the teens movie is boring. Courtesy and co-operation reign. We could stress leadership but homeschooled children generally all want to be in charge and they are never reluctant to speak up. In this group, there is respect and a listening heart.
Fort Hunt Park September 2, 2003 No, Not Back to School, Picnic Time: 11:30 A.M.-2:00
Play Group Ft. Hunt Park
First and third Wednesday of each month 1:00-2:30 Usually, (No one comes-we go earlier.) Moved from Grist Mill to Ft. Hunt. Bathrooms, great play area, and forts to play cowboys or warriors. We all talked about the stage area for Shakespeare and the fireplaces to warm up cold feet and hands. Cook a hot dog on chillier days. Play group has always been free play, imaginative play. Parents monitor and leave the children to interact. We are talking about Board games, embroidery, basketball, painting and softball or games against the parents. Sand volleyball or badminton available. We don't like to have any physical or play that hurts and we monitor the children. If they get tired or whine about how hot it is, we take them home and then they really complain. Parents come and go at leisure. Time may change and day could change.
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Planning SessionFirst stage of our planning year is a get together at a playground to calendar 4-H. Yes, we still do 4-H. We generally select a theme for the year and work toward our goals with curriculum that strangely parallels 4-H goals. And, we input what the children have enjoyed in the past. Every person has input. And, this year the first session was held August 20, 2003. People had e-mailed the editor that they wanted to come meet us. We invited them to come on over. We all arrived early at the park, and the pavilion was in use by hundreds of people. We sent the children around with the newsletter and they trolled for interested parties.Only three families were available for input this year. Others are still away. We calendared 2003-2004. The calendar will appear at the bottom of the newsletter. The ones who were there spent several hours talking about expectations and hopes. My apologies if anyone missed us who might be interested in the group. We will probably think of a balloon or sail or flag to identify us. If all those hundreds of people were the homeschoolers, we would have been proud.
Proposed change for 4-H Meetings
Please contact the editor if you are interested in being a memberEditor email: Suzanne@mvhomeschool.orgPhone-tree. Register for membership with e-Mail to Editor This is the way to keep information coming your way:E-mail of activity will go to members. Field trips, seminar or future plan for Parent Led-Weekly teaching sessions.Discussion about classes
I know, the co-operative learning center died on the vine. And, some of us did the teaching while others parked behinds on
picnic tables. Or, Moms got uninvited or dis-invited. And, it staggered on and finally disappeared, And, I left because my teens
wanted to party and not work with other kids running around. Who knows what happened to the grand plan two years ago? Some
of the idea was excellent and the execution was good. With homeschool theater, some people meandered away, including me and
some others.
Our students need to learn Math. They will graduate in a few more years and there are parents in this group skilled in math, science, history, language arts, writing. Several of the students want foreign language. The teens have to have these subjects. And, the youth like to learn together. Talking algebra, geometry, drill and performance. This is an idea open for discussion in our group. Parent-led Classes
We are actually talking about creating a day with classes. Age groups together.
With the following list of ideas:
One-Room Unschool Sessions, Math and Language ArtsWe will do it anyway. The discussion is now and the prospective date to begin is September. We plan to donate one of our days to work on the subjects. It may take more than one day of the week to attain a new level of commitment to excellence. Anyone who wants to get on board has to do it now. We won't entertain coming to look at us or joining up later. We want this established and running with parents and children working together . And, three of us have made the decision to do it. If it works, we will charge ahead and if it doesn't work, we will know soon . By October, we will be on a roll. Some of us discussed renting space outside the home and creating an one-room unschool with different learning styles for the children. We do have some learning disability problems.More ideas from children
No FeeInstead of charging a fee for membership, we usually agree to provide some refreshment on a revolving basis and provide materials for projects for our children and share stuff.The expense is in the paper, pens or glue or getting places.Discussing CurriculumNow, we are discussing sharing curriculum. We all have piles of it, Some moms say we should sort at different houses and dive into the library for reference materials. But, we don't have to spend a lot. We could share textbooks for the new courses or share cost of print-outs. We could post an inventory and ask for a person to be responsible for a library list of what we have to offer. Some of us are looking at the disk libraries we all own for computer courses. And, typing will be one course that will last for at least four weeks with contests.Prom Night DanceWe would like this year to hold a dance with music provided by teens and dress-up. We could rent a church and do some decorating, Listen to music, provide a lovely table with food and somebody talk about this and see if the Dad's would dance and party with us. And, some other people could come and dance with us, Since only one teen graduates this year and one next year. All the children and parents could come for a social.We could invite others to join us.A dance instructor, formerly Arthur Murray instructor has volunteered to teach our homeschoolers in dance. We have asked for private course of study (possible two or more lessons in etiquette and dance). Let Lisa N. know if your home schooler is interested and we will have the classes. We could learn to dance with videos also. Come on teens, you can dance. Swing, waltz, hip hop and bebop with us. Please try it. As usual the Moms will lead and you must follow.... Field TripsWe always left this open to contact people in the group to join us if we went someplace interesting. The children expressed an interest in traveling by bus, by train, by small aircraft. We could travel as a group to Chicago to eat pizza, to New York to shop, to Philadelphia to see it, to Baltimore or Richmond or Williamsburg. These are the ideas from planning sessions. Input your ideas and we begin again. New year, new ideas, renewed energy. Huntley Meadows is a favorite for the four seasons and changes in the seasons. We never tire of going there.Quite a long list of potential activity for the Mount Vernon Homeschoolers. Lots of folks have joined the homeschool movement . And, quite a few in Northern Virginia offer ideas this year. Dale City recreation offers classes. Remember to check VaEclectic Field Trips and sign up for Share-Net and look for Tap and Springtree and posters that point us to other groups. We have orchestra at Prince William and a lot of people having curriculum fairs and organizations to join, legislation to watch and friends to make all over Virginia. Encourage the parents to come on out and get acquainted. When school starts, the Moms with kids are all potential homeschoolers. Let's rally once again. And, remember to say hello and find a few friends. Look on the web for curriculum, groups and new adventures. That includes E-bay.
Plans for the first week of unschoolingSome people ask what do you do, and when do you do it. At our house, we will use Alpha-Omega curriculum, Singapore and Saxon math, and adhere to Charlotte Mason methods for encouraging the students to rise and shine. Classical literature reading, violin and classical music listening. And, one day will be opera day and they have to sing all day. It drives them all crazy and then we play Carmen loudly. Hope you all have some shenanigans up your sleeve. We aim for burn-out in January. And, the other homeschoolers always have to yank me back. Then we have the socialization issue to wipe off our shoes, and how will the teens get jobs if they sleep late? The answers await us this year. Good luck and don't let your hair turn gray.We begin Sept. 2 with penmanship and reading. It sure is difficult to pile those books up and let the homeschoolers trip over them. The teacher=parent has preparation and time to read the how-to books in the summer and the rest is like substitute teaching. Something the editor did in a former life Go in and not a plan in sight and you dig in and go across the street at lunch to buy paper for the students to draw on because everything was locked up and sometimes your hubcaps are missing when you leave at three. And, then, you discover fame has found you when you break up a knife fight and lose your wig being carried outside the high school on the arm of an outside agitator. That's bad hair day. We owe it to our children to provide an education and not a reality show. Although, mine wish they could have seen me shove a chair to drop a knife welding dude about three feet taller than me Stopped teaching that day and went to work as a lingerie assistant buyer. Life has a funny way of returning things. It has been wonderful to work with students again. My own, my loved ones. It is real work. Thanks, We like to say Thanks.Each year we stop and thank each other for kindness and graciousness and pure enjoyment.
Calendar for 2003-20044H Second and fourth Tuesday of Each Month
2004
Check us out. We are active and we have fun. The Mount Vernon Homeschoolers are still going strong. Cloverbuds age 5-9 Active H'ers age 10-17. We raise chickens and we make things with our hands, and the principles of home, heart and hands are adhered to at our meetings. Volunteer this year and help our community. If we have the chance to glean, we can pick 700 pounds of eggplant. And, watch our apple picking. These are proposed activities and when we all meet again, we may change some activities for some others we love. There's so much to do. |
Bring the picnic lunches and we will share some drinks and everyone can see everyone else after the summer break
Science-Dissection
Fishing often. I agreed to fishing on the week-end for interested parties. Don't catch anything and no killing, cleaning or
hospital visits for hook extraction. Have the license, have the rod and reel. We go to Burke Lake or Cameron Run or Potomac,
and throw the fish things back. Before they get handled or you can go wash that goo off your hands.