Homeschoolers Teach!

I feel like that should be the real title of this blog. Maybe I will change it lol.

It seems that there are a remarkable number of homeschool kids in the education world. We don't overwhelm the department or anything, but I wouldn't expect homeschooled students (who enjoyed it!) to go into traditional education--but we do!

In fact I have another K-10th homeschooled girl in my class, and another one who was homeschooled just through kindergarten. We shall call the first one Liz (not her real name) and she and I hang out a lot. Mostly because we understand and enjoy each other's corny homeschooler jokes, plus we're of very similar personalities and teaching styles, so we get along well. I spend a lot of time with the other one too (we'll call her B) but we are more opposite personalities, lol.

So as I resurrect this blog I think I will do so in the name of being real, of talking about school and homeschool and college and teaching and teacher preparation. Of what it's like really, and of course how all this plays into God's call in my life and working for His children (which of course, is the current title...oh decisions).

Me + Lesson Plans = Error, So....???

I have this difficulty.

I am very bad at adapting existing lesson plans.

I know this is bad, because what am I going to do when I'm out there in the real world, come up with all my stuff from my head?! Surely not.

Or maybe so. I swear I'm not THAT much of an overachiever, so most likely when I get Out There, my crazy brain will take it down a notch and I'll be able to use someone else's stuff. But in the meantime, anything "someone else" is 95% unusable.

Ugh.

I'm hoping to be posting some of my lesson plans/ideas on here, in case anyone else has a mind like mine and likes my ideas. Feel free to steal. :) 

In Which the Second Homeschooler Prepares for College

Me little brother is getting ready for college.

Good. grief. This, I cannot believe.

Neither can I believe that I am halfway through my junior year and, as such, will be doing intensives next semester and student teaching a year from this winter!

Anyway, B2 is getting ready. He's home-schooled all the way through, too, K-12--again, taking it a year at a time and exploring other options from time to time. As the second one through, he gets to be barraged with advice from three people! I'm sure he is very grateful! [or something...]

People ask whether academics or social life is the hardest part of a homeschooler adjusting to college. Neither, I think. The hardest thing for all of us that I've known (who have had, admittedly, a decently rigorous high-school curriculum) was losing our freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted!

My brother's best friend put it this way: "I'm losing my childhood!"

B2 feels that way too. Fortunately my schedule has been somewhat restrictive for a while, so we kind of got used to it. Doesn't make it a great deal easier, though. Vacations are limited, mission trips are limited, everything is limited. When we aren't in school, we're working, so even summers aren't a blank slate. He has to start looking for jobs and filling out applications soon.

It's not fun, but he will get used to it. I think he will enjoy college more than I do, actually--I'm not much of a "people person," while he is.

In the meantime, I wade through field experience (basically a practicum for ed. majors) and classwork and my three jobs, and try not to be too flippant about his adjustment phase. ;)

I think I should start following some more homeschool/classroom blogs. Good for getting ideas, you know. :) And this blog needs an update too!

On another note, I'm SO excited about this school year--and not because of the classes, though they include some of my favorites (Inclusive/Special Ed., ESL, and Language Arts Methods)--but because I am so close to getting done! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! :)

Writers' Notebook

This, is fantastic. :)

Good to laugh, sometimes, at nothing at all
photo that isn't really silly
comment meant to just be dry
To giggle
And then to laugh
A lot
is good.

Dialogue from the Book With No Name

"You've got to figure out a way to handle this," she said.

"I'll try. . . "

"No--you will."

"I will." I closed my eyes and pictured his face, got it sharp in my mind. I had to do it, for him if not for me.  "I will," I repeated. I hoped my fervency would convince my own mind. I was glad they didn't know what I'd been thinking earlier.

Today's Storm from the Pasture, and a Brief Character Sketch

Forgot yesterday, so here is something for both:

------

Lighting dashed white fire in the distance.  I counted. One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three, one-thousand-four...Thunder rolled. It wasn't close yet. Minutes later, turning back to the clouds, I watched a white curtain descend over the thunderheads. Rain. Lots of it.

-------

Kahlira:

16-year-old girl. Living in real life during the day, and dream world at night. (Bit of fantasy here--just a way to play with two plots at once). Special talents: animals. Not necessarily what you call an animal communicator, but able to connect with them on an intuitive level. Easy enough in the dream world, but transferring it to real life? Not so fast.

From the Book With No Name...

Two paragraphs today. From the Book With No Name, or, the Autobiography That Isn't. ;)

            The end of summer came faster than I thought. Soon we finished loading up the big yellow moving truck and were ready to drive away. Mommy and Ben climbed into the car and I climbed into the truck beside Daddy. I buckled my seatbelt and tried not to bounce up and down. Daddy started the engine and we all drove out. The neighbors waved. I waved back. I’d already promised to write them letters when we got to Wyoming.

            We drove and drove and drove. We drove through mountains, and through desert, and over the salt flats. Sometimes there were horses in the fields beside the road. Most of the time there weren’t. Finally we got to the last big mountains we had to go over. We climbed and climbed. The truck’s engine got hot and we had to stop. I was tired. Mommy was tired. Everyone was tired, but we had to keep going. Finally the truck cooled down and we kept driving. A few hours later, we turned into the driveway between two big bushes. Next to it was the house I’d already seen on the video. We were in Sheridan at last!

Facebook, Yoga, the Bible, and Getting Up (2)

(Continued from here much remiss in posting this!)

 Upon looking at my habits I find myself getting out of bed and getting on Facebook more often than I got out of bed and got into the Word. Now I have taken many breaks from the big FB and don't consider myself addicted. In fact the political and ideological drama that goes on among some of my friends frequently tempts me to cancel my "membership" altogether! But for sure my priorities are skewed. So this begged another question. . .

Could I take something bad and use it for good?

I am getting distracted by socializing in the fake world. What about using the fake world of socialization (otherwise known as social media) to get deeper into the Word and develop true, deep relationship with God for myself and others?

And so the idea came about of, next semester, having a twice-weekly Bible study and prayer time. But once a week, to have it online. On Skype or Google+, or whatever we can find that works. So that we don't have to get together in person with our busy schedules.

Perhaps it will be early. Perhaps it will be late. But either way, it helps us to stay focused. Perhaps does a better job than yoga, even. ;)