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When You Don’t Know Where to Begin in Homeschooling. The 3 R’s for New Homeschoolers. Part 3

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3 Rs of Homeschooling Part 3 Research

Half-hearted homeschooling, I can’t even type the words without already feeling a bit of energy draining from my fingertips.  Keeping the same resolve to homeschool throughout your journey is crucial to being able to weather any storms that will come your way.

Homeschool Delusions

How you rise to meet those challenges is more significant than you may realize.  Though I don’t usually like to make blanket statements about homeschoolers, in my experience I have found that by nature we come with a bit more resolve as we start to homeschool.  Maybe we are more armed in the beginning because we have had to overcome any naysayers.

But somewhere along the way, doubt sets in and then we question our resolve to homeschool.

Reasons and research, which are the first two R’s combined with our fortitude or resolve to homeschool stands as an almost impenetrable barrier to giving up our homeschool journey.

To think that we can control our lives, our schedules, our children or even our own negative thoughts is a mistake.  It happens to all of us.  Learning along the way that I can control sometimes very little about my journey helps me to put a plan in place.

Combat the Control Hoax

You can’t control what flies overhead in your journey, but you can only control what you allow to land permanently or how it affects you.  Think about that though for a minute because that is powerful.

Thinking that is counter balance always helps me to not stroll down pity party road too.  For example, I don’t think life just happens and then just roll with anything that comes up in my life.  We do decide what people and what circumstances we allow to take up permanent residence in our lives.  That is a force to be reckoned with and it allows us to not just go with the flow when we need to avoid the flow.

Our resolve helps us to resist a willy-nilly approach to homeschooling and allowing things that we have no control over to fester and take up our time.

Resolve means to make up one’s mind and it has the connotation as if we took a formal vote.  One can’t have an opinion on something unless they researched it and have strong reasons to make that decision.

Reinforce Your Homeschool Resolve

Look at these things that will feed your resolve to stick with homeschooling.

  • Avoid isolation.  I don’t care if you are homeschooling in a boat floating in the South Pacific, (sounds good actually) live in a frozen tundra for most of the year or live only among where you see more cows than people, you need encouragement, support and inspiration.  Attending a co-op may not be an option, but reading blogs, reading books and attending on-line homeschool conventions may be.
  • Schedule it.  As moms we tend to put our needs in everything secondary to our children’s need.  There is nothing wrong with this as long as we don’t neglect our needs.  There is a difference.  Finding time to refresh your resolve is not easy so it has to be scheduled in.  My time is early in the morning.  Whether you choose to read blogs, read books, pray, step away from the computer, sit down at the computer, exercise or all of this, you need time to dwell on the reasons you homeschool.
  • Change it up.  Homeschooling has many seasons and sometimes you don’t have to change it up because changes, like moving, a pregnancy or unexpected illness comes to you.  I am not talking about those kinds of changes, but changes like varying our routine, our methods and the people we choose to let in our immediate homeschool circle, adds spice to our everyday.

When You Don’t Know Where to Begin in Homeschooling. The 3 R’s for New Homeschoolers. Part 3

I hope even one tidbit of any of these three posts helps to re-energize you with a dogged determination to keep homeschooling.  Whether you are weak at times in reasons, research or resolve, the other two R’s will help to jump start you back to your resolution.  Take time to form these 3 pillars in your homeschool and you won’t be so easily swayed as you enter and end different seasons in your homeschooling.

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature

Did you miss my other two posts in this series?

When You Don’t Know Where to Begin in Homeschooling The 3 R’s for New Homeschoolers Part 1

When You Don’t Know Where to Begin in Homeschooling. The 3 R’s for New Homeschoolers. Part 2

Grab some helpful books about homeschooling!

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I want to share some free copywork Cattle a Texas poem about our home. And look at History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail for fun ideas.

Talking with Tiny about our pending move to South America, I decided to find a poem about Texas so he understands that we are not going to forget it. 

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

Excited as we are about the move, you can imagine the whole host of emotions the kids go through. 

Excited one day and then a bit of trepidation the next.  So I turned that into a mini lesson and copywork about our home.

Next, look at these fun books to add to your unit study.

BOOKS FOR TEXAS ABOUT KIDS

10 Resources for Learning About the Lone Star State & Texas Cattle Drives

Add a few of these resources to learn about the great state of Texas.

Also, look at this poem about Texas.

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem

The Texas poem was written in 1932 by Berta Hart Nance called “Cattle”.  Here is the whole thing that has such beautiful imagery and language.

CATTLE

By Berta Hart Nance

Other states were carved or born

Texas grew from hide and horn.

Other states are long and wide,

Texas is a shaggy hide.

Dripping blood and crumpled hair

Some fat giant flung it there,

Laid the head where valleys drain

Stretched its rump along the plain.

Other soil is full of stone

Texans plow up cattle bones.

Herds are buried on the trail

Underneath the powdered shale,

Herds that stiffened like the snow

Where the icy northers go.

Other states have built their halls

Humming tunes along the walls,

Texans watched the mortar stirred

While they kept the lowing herd.

Stamped on Texan wall and roof

Gleams the sharp and crescent hoof,

High above the hum and stir

Jingle bridle-rein and spur.

Other states were made or born

…Texas grew from hide and horn.

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

To go along with this poem, I thought I would teach Tiny how to make a simple Texas chili and you know spend a bit more time together.

Tx Unit 1Tx Unit 2

Too, we have had some cold weather that is almost unheard of in May so that called for home made Texas chili.  Well, I should say part home made. 

Any good Texan would make their beans from scratch, but canned beans are fine after we had a long day selling furniture in our house.

Easy Texas Homemade Chili

Here are some things we put in our chili:

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of sirloin meat.  We are meat eaters.  Love the stuff.  This is a twist on our chili because we don’t use ground beef when we make it.
  • 1 onion, 1 jalapeno if I have it, some bacon for flavoring which makes any chili come alive.
  • About 1 tablespoon of cumino, 2 or 3 chopped garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.
  • 4 or 5 cans of pinto beans, though we use home made when we have them.
  • 1 can or 2 cans of Rotel Tomatoes, a bit of beef broth or beef bouillon.
Tx Unit 3Tx Unit 4

Tiny and I share a love of cheese and a multiple assortment of delicious toppings over our chili when its cooked.

I like to add sour cream, tortilla strips,  avocado and the best recipe for home made salsa by Pioneer Woman.  I make that stuff by the bucket loads around here.

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

Trying to keep our school work light, this mix of homeschool lessons has been something I have not done before. 

I am finding it very gratifying to plan so spur of the moment and school on the wild and free side.  Sometimes you just a need a break from all the well laid out plans and sharing a bowl of hot Texas chili helps things too.

Free Copywork Cattle A Texas Poem For a Fun Unit Study

HOW TO GET THE FREE POEM COPYWORK

Now, how to grab the freebie. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ON MY EMAIL LIST & TO GET THIS FREEBIE.

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Cattle by Berta Hart Nance Collage

2015 Physical Year Calendar –2 Pages Per Month At A Glance

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Getting started earlier this year with my curriculum planner pages, I am tickled to be able to offer the first option for the 2015 Physical Year Calendar – 2 Pages Per Month at a Glance Appointment Keepers.  I know this is one wonky long name, but it really helps to describe how best to use it.

It’s a calendar, right? How else do you use it?  Well something like that except with it being a 2 page spread, it gives you a ton more room to write.  Too, the month of January {whether it’s my academic calendars or physical year calendars} has a special box on that page only so that you note when you begin to school and when you end your school year.

2 Page Month At A Glance 2015 Physical Year Calendar Dreaming Collage

You know me and my name calling.  I called this set of calendar pages Dreaming.

I also have a bigger picture below so you can see what one 2 page spread looks like.  I need to see big pictures because I am such a visual person.

2015 - 2 pages per month Dreaming 4

{Dreaming}

Each month has a different color for the month name and on the note section, I kept the background white and bright this time.  I did add another section to this year and that is the top right section, which is a task list.

Separating that from the bottom section which is more of a to do list for the month, it helps to divide priorities.  I tend to keep a running lists for tasks whether they are due that month or not.  And my to do for the month at the bottom is just that, things that need to get done by that particular month.  I think the reason I put that list at the bottom is that I am hoping it will go away too. {ha ha}

Whether you want to add an academic school year that runs from July to June {find them here on STEP 2. Option 2} or this physical year calendar for 2015 or you’re obsessed going to use both like me, you decide what works for your unique planner.

This past year I started using two calendars and I think I liked it.  I used one for things I wanted to fill in about our school day {academic school calendar} or my thoughts about what we did for the day and the other one I used more for family appointments.  You certainly don’t have to do this, but it was nice having two different sets.  I used the academic school year calendar more like a journal and keeping up with what we did, penned in some funny moments, brainstorming and things like that.

I didn’t put appointments on both sets.  I just them on the one I used for our family calendar so I would have one place to look at for appointments.  This may or may not work for you.  Again the planner is your baby to decide what works best for you.  I just like options and trying different combinations each year.

I change too each year depending on my mood, but I really like the way that worked out last year.

Guess what? You can get it now!

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For my email readers, in case the store button doesn’t work right, here is the link to my store where you can get it.

Hope you like it.

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature

Linking up at these beautiful places:

Kids Learning Printables |

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party {Homeschooling Middle & High School Years} #11. 05/14/2014

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Finishing Strong Homeschool Link Up Party

Thank you for joining us this week at Finishing Strong – the link-up that focuses on middle & high school students.

Finishing Strong Link Up Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Our favorite posts from last week:

Heather from Blog She Wrote enjoyed reading Homeschool High School- How to Log Hours for High School from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

She said, “As a homeschooling mom with almost two high schoolers with very different learning styles, I found fellow co-host Tina’s post on logging hours for high school to be very helpful. I’ve also been dabbling with electronic vs paper and pen planners and working hard to merge the two happily. Thanks for some specific ideas on how to get the job done!”

Her other favorite post was Science Milestones: The Binomial Naming System from Eva Varga.

Heather shared, “I have a few favorite topics within biology that I love to teach and classification is one of them. Science Milestones make me smile and the binomial system is one of the legacies that Carolus Linnaeus left us from his work so long ago. Thank you Eva for bringing to light aspects of science many homeschoolers may overlook!”

 

finishing strong a middle & high school link up

Heather from Blog She Wrote enjoyed reading Homeschool High School- How to Log Hours for High School from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

Tina from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus loved Review: Henry Hudson by Ronald Syme from Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Tina’s interest was piqued by this book because last year when studying about explorers, she only found a handful of biographies that she considered worthy of reading by her middle school son. She will definitely be adding this book to her resource list.

She also enjoyed Board Games and Fun: Takenoko, Timeline, & Tokaido from Eva Varga.

She said, “Learning through games spans all ages and every family member can be involved. We really need to be sure we continue the fun of games through to the middle and high school years.”

Follow Me Linky Party Finishing Strong

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Easy Details to Remember & Even Easier Guidelines.

      • The link up party goes live at 5:00 a.m. CST each Wednesday and stays open until the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m.
      • Each week we will pick our favorite links as features and share them.
      • You can link up to 3 posts. Please do not link up advertising posts, or other link ups, or parties. I will remove them. Homeschool related reviews are permitted and of course all topics related to homeschooling middle to high school students.
      • Grab a button to add to your post after you link up and if you were featured, grab an “I was featured” button.
      • By linking up with us, you agree for us to share your images and give you credit of course.
      • That’s it! Glad to have you here and let’s party!
Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus


Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Many of you have asked me what are the must cover subjects in high school.  Guess what? There are not any.  Okay, I just wanted to get that over with so you can be released from all the stress of high school planning and all those rules you have set up for yourself.

Instead of giving you the must cover subjects, I want to give you some must know basic tips that will help you to sail through high school planning.

And okay yes, I’m giving you a guide to what you want to know which is what are some of the basics that you don’t want to overlook.

Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1

I assure you this is easier than some books about planning high school make it sound.  Bathe in the thought for a minute that there is so much freedom in high school when it comes to planning.  Free yourself from any predisposed thoughts about what you think you need to cover in high school.

From that freedom, comes the very unique way you want to build your high school courses.  Don’t start high school with fear, stress, and rigid rules about planning.

Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects

I don’t want to oversimplify planning high school either. Your fears about high school can be valid if you don’t get the heads up about a few very significant details.

You know I’m a stickler for details.  And I always want my followers to be just a notch above when it comes to understanding homeschooling know how.

Core Subjects Are Key

Most veterans might answer the question about what subjects to cover by saying it depends on your future plans.  Though this statement is very true, it does not give you a specific answer and direction.  I don’t really like that answer either.

Giving you one foundational point to build on will be of much more help and here is the nitty-gritty: stick to the core subjects in your most basic planning.

You have heard me say it before and it’s true.  The 3 R’s are at the very heart of high school planning and they keep every future opportunity opened for your teen.

Follow me on this thought or scenario for a minute.  I don’t care what teen experts say, not all teens know exactly what they want to do at the high school age.  I know many adults who are still not sure what they want to do whether in college or not.  And if they do, they can change their mind on a dime too.  Don’t make my mistake and put extra pressure on your teen to decide now while he is still investigating his options for the future.

This is not the time for our teens to know exactly what they want to do, but it is the time for them to bask in the wealth of opportunities opened up to them.  Diligently investigate the opportunities while they are a teen.

On the other hand too, the teen years are about exerting some positive pressure on your teen.  They need to taste the weight of adult decisions, but you are the only one to know how much positive pressure to exert.  It truly is a balancing act in high school not just about planning subjects, but because you are dealing now with a pre-adult.

There is not another time in their life that they will be free of financial responsibility and not responsible for taking care of a family yet.  High school is about preparation for adulthood and they are not quite there yet.

Some teens have an idea of what they think they want to do and others do not.  It is all in the realm of normal.  Do not think you are the lone homeschool mom who has a teen that does not know what he wants to do yet.

How does all of this help when planning subjects?

Because high school courses reflect the direction your teen wants to take.  Sharing that fine, but significant point with you helps you to see that they are inextricably link, which is why it can seem like talking about muddy water when talking subjects in high school.  A set of courses or subjects that works for one family might not work for another family with different goals.

Again, the backbone of your planning, whether you are planning for the known or unknown future is to be sure the foundation of their high school is built on the basic or core subjects.  From there,  you can add specific subjects to it.

You want your teen to have every option available to him when he finally decides on a route.

A Teen With No Plan While You Plan

Whether your teen goes to college, joins the workforce right away, takes up a gap year, goes to missionary service, or don’t know what they are doing the next day, lay a good foundation by sticking to the basic subjects like math, language arts, history and science.

These courses will give them the edge they need for any future options.

My basic high school plan looked like this:

  • 1 Math each year = 4 years or 4 credits.
  • 1 Language Arts each year = 4 years or 4 credits.
  • 1 Science for 3 years= 3 years or 3 credits.
  • 1 History each year= 4 years or 4 credits.

Bam, 15 solid credits were planned immediately for Mr. Senior 2013.

Now, I said this was my plan.  I realized soon enough that planning for a young teen prior to high school is quite a different thing than when he inched closer to adulthood in his junior and senior years.  Now, he wanted to make more of his own educational choices too.  And rightly so.

Plodding along throughout the high school years with the basic core subjects is a solid plan because it keeps all your teen’s options open.

But, what else do you want to add to his high school courses?  Well, next comes the glam part of planning as I call it.  I will share in Part 2 how to round out the rest of your high school subjects.

Does this sound like a plan? Click on Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2 if you’re ready for the next part.

Hugs and love ya,

Did you miss these posts?