Sundre Community Choir Blog/Website

I put together this blog/website to give the choir a presence on the web. A place for choir members and others to find out more information about the choir, upcoming events, videos and pictures. Please feel free to share the web address with friends and family. http://sundrecommunitychoir.blogspot.ca/

An open letter to my non-homeschooling friends

"Homeschooling, like motherhood, has altered my relationships with friends in ways I did not initially expect." -- http://simplehomeschool.net/an-open-letter/

A little fun on Facebook today:

Pamela Schrock

It's international book week. The rules: grab the closest book to you, turn to page 52, post the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the title. Copy the rules as part of your status.

"I felt humble, one more set of footprints on a dusty well-worn path, discovering something new that's not new at all, and I was thankful."

Word Play Wednesdays

I am planning to try daily themes in our home school this year.  The other day on Bravewriter’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/bravewriter?hc_location=stream&filter=1), someone asked the question about Word Wednesday’s.  What a great theme!  So I am going to collect the ideas here to be able to reference later.

WORD PLAY WEDNESDAYS!

-  poetry fridge magnets

-  Holly Dong I don't know what Word Wednesday is, but we play a word game where you select a category (say animals) and the person has t name one using the last letter of what you said. So for example, "cat," next person says, "tiger" using the t. I didn't think my son would like it, but he did. When he was younger we used to play "Fortunately, Unfortunately" where you spin a story, one person saying only fortunate events and the other only unfortunate. Mostly we do them in the car or waiting in line though.

-  Melissa Rhymer Here are 2 we played all the time when my kids were younger and they still reasurect them as teenagers. We played in the car on our weekly trips to the city. 1) story crafting :we tell stories one sentence at a time each person taking a turn to add the next sentence. You NEVER know how these stories are going to end up! 2) sentence structure : each person picks a part of speech 1st person chooses a noun, 2nd. Chooses a verb 3rd chooses a prepositional phrase and together you have a silly sentence. You could add adjectives foe the noun for more people. It might look like this "The balloon catapulted around the bend" it was always challenging to find great verbs and to make our choices work with the other choices. Helped with tenses and such

-  Michelle Oliver I don't know what Word Wednesday is either, but we play some word games at poetry tea times. Here are a couple examples: Each person writes down 10 words, put them all in a "hat" and then everyone draws 10 and arranges them into a random poem-like piece. Each person writes a sentence on a piece of paper, folds the paper so you can only see the last word and the next person writes a sentence beginning with the word that shows. Mad libs are always fun. Play the "teapot" game, where one person leaves the room and the others think of a word that they then substitute with the word "teapot" and use in sentences when the "it" person re-enters. "It" tries to guess what the actual word that was chosen is. Lots of word games like this can be found. Even versions of Boggle and Spill and Spell are really fun...scrabble, upwords, etc. Gee..think we need a game night!

-  Katharine Wise We used to play I Spy but incorporate some phonetic clues. We'd also build on the clues as they guessed. For example: I spy something that rhymes with red. Is it Dad's head? No, it's brown. Is it...? No, it starts with /b/. The mixture of clues allowed all ages to play. If they didn't yet know letter-sound correlations they'd figure it out based on the other clues but start to become familiar with the sounds. We might also have played this as "I'm thinking of something..." that wasn't actually present (eg, a bear).

-  Shalynn Burnham Wilson Here's a link to a totally free book called Word Play Cafe. It has some fun ideas.http://dogfoose.com/wordplay-cafe/

WordPlay Café

dogfoose.com

This one’s for the teachers. Within the last few years, we’ve been stretched quite thin when it comes to budgetary matters, and very few sectors of our economy have witnessed as dramatic a cut in s...

-  Kiersten Pasciak If you have devices with apps, "Seven Little Words" is a fantastic app! There are 2 versions now, with one meant for younger kids. My kids love playing both versions with me.

-  Kiersten Pasciak Word Pirates, Appletters, Bananagrams, Pairs in Pears, Quiddler, Scrabble Slam, Pictionary Bend a Clues, Hangman, and Scattergories are some more good games for playing with letters and words. You can modify most games to be cooperative and play face up if you have younger kids playing
With Apples to Apples, we had my emerging reader play with us and just swap cards with the box if she couldn't read one of the cards in her hand. We helped with any words she didn't know when she was the judge. If we only had 3 players, we added a random card from the box each time to give the judge more answers to pick from. That makes the game sillier sometimes too There are younger versions for the game too, including a 7+ version and a 9+ version. We also play so that when the game ends, you read whatever green apple cards are in front of you and those "describe" you. It lightens the mood for the non-winners.

-  Anne LaFleur 1. We used to play a round of Boggle and then write stories using as many of the words on our lists as we could. 2. We still play this game, a poetry version of "Exquisite Corpse": First person writes two lines of a poem, then folds the paper so only their last line is showing and hands it to the next person. #2 player then writes two lines, folds the paper so only their last line is showing and hands it to the next person. After 3 or 4 stanzas you unfold and read the poem. 3. Make a birthday card for someone by writing "Have a very ________ Birthday". Fill in the blanks with lots of words you cut out from magazines. You could also do a self portrait poem this way, cutting words from magazines. I hope this helps.

-_______________________________________

The truth must be presented in ways that others can accept.

Sometimes we speak clumsily and create internal knots in others. Then we say, "I was just telling the truth." It may be the truth, but if our way of speaking causes unnecessary suffering, it is not Right Speech. The truth must be presented in ways that others can accept. Words that damage or destroy are not Right Speech. Before you speak, understand the person you are speaking to. Consider each word carefully before you say anything, so that your speech is "Right" in both form and content.
~Thich Nhat Hanh from The Heart of the Buddhas Teaching

 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole (came to me via Facebook)

 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole
1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeds removed
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) 1% cottage cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 400
Coat a 13" x 9" baking dish and a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place the squash, cut side down, on the sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a sharp knife. With a fork, scrape the squash strands into a large bowl.
Meanwhile, warm the oil in a medium skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and basil. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture is dry.
To the bowl with the squash, add the cottage cheese, mozzarella, parsley, salt, and the onion mixture. Stir to mix. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and bread crumbs.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through.

creative consequences for kids

Excellent article to read.  Check out the comments section too.  :o)

creative consequences for kids 

http://www.notconsumed.com/2012/05/02/consequences-for-little-hearts/

Still working on plans for the school year…

I am putting together a notebook that can travel back and forth between my house and Chris’s mom’s house that will keep Chris on a predictable school routine at both homes.  This is what I came up for a daily routine…

 

DAILY ACTIVITIES

1. READING – Read for a minimum of one hour a day. This could mean reading one book for an hour OR could be broken up into smaller portions. For example reading 2 books for 30 minutes each or maybe reading 4 books for 15 minutes each. Extra reading is encouraged and is a great activity when you find yourself bored.

2. WRITING - Writing can include copywork, practising your handwriting, dictation, making lists, writing in a journal, writing a letter or a note to someone, a writing workbook page, writing lessons, practicing spelling words, writing a story or a poem. There are lots of ways to include writing in your day. Each day you need to have completed at least 3 writing activities.

3. MATH - Each day will include at least 2 kinds of math learning. One will probably be a Teaching Textbooks lesson. Some of the other math activities may include – base ten blocks, flash cards, worksheets, educational website or iPad app, a computer program, books/stories or a game.

4. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - “The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends children and youth accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity per day to achieve optimal health benefits. ” Some ideas to be active include – walking, running, riding your bike, playing at the park, exercises such as sit ups/jumping jacks/push ups/etc, sword fighting and so much more. The 60 minutes can be broken down into smaller portions. For example doing 30 minutes of bike riding and then 15 minutes of sword fighting and then 15 minutes of running.

5. PRACTICING A SKILL - Put together a list of skills you want to develop. Work towards one of your goals by practicing a skill for 20 minutes. (Some kids want to gain skills in piano, basketball, guitar, or typing – each child has their short list of skills they want to develop. What are some of yours?). Your teachers (Mom, Auntie Pam or Uncle Wes) will also have some skills they know you need to develop.

6. HELPING TAKE CARE OF THE HOME AND PETS - At Auntie Pam's house this includes feeding and watering the pets, bringing in the mail, keeping your room clean, doing your laundry, and any other tasks Auntie Pam may have for you day to day. ***At Mom's house this includes _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. EXTRAS - This will include the daily theme activities, and/or working on the ranch with Uncle Wes.

A notebook I am putting together for Chris

CHRISTOPHER'S LEARNING LOGBOOK

Each day take some time to write your learning activities and experiences in your learning logbook. Both Chris and Mom or Auntie Pam can record things but this should be mostly Chris's responsibility. There are different pages to record the variety of learning possibilities. These pages are titled:

• Books read independently by Chris

• Audio books listened to

• Family read alouds

• Games played

• Writing (letters, blog, email, journal, greeting cards, reports, etc)

• Other reading (Magazine or newspaper articles read, game instructions, etc)

• Movies / Videos / Documentaries / TV shows watched

• Websites used

• Math resources

• Ipad Apps

• Classes taken

• Projects (stuff from Make something Mondays, science experiments)

• Tuesday Teatime poems / songs

• Driver's Seat – what did Chris get to teach?

• Field trips

• Discussions

• Character training

• Skills observed / tried / learned

• Physical Activity

• Miscellaneous (anything that did not fit in any of the other pages)

• WONDERING list (write down things you wonder about, questions you have that you want to find the answers to)

By taking the time to record all of the learning activities and experiences that you have, you will see that learning is something that can happen anytime or anywhere. Learning is much more than just “school”.

Well it is that time of year again…

… time to plan out a new home school year.  I just finished putting together the program plan for our facilitator.  I have decided to do something new this year with the weekly routine, I am planning themed days.  I think this idea will help with some of the boredom we experienced last year with each day looking the same.  Here is what I have some up with so far:

_______________________________________________________________

WEEKLY LEARNING LIFESTYLE ROUTINES:

***REMEMBER*** that we are not doing a public school education at home, we are facilitating an intentional learning lifestyle with the focus on DISCOVERY APPROACH LEARNING, which means we focus on the learning, not a product, not what grade the student is in, or what age they are.

DAILY: arithmetic, reading, writing, discovery (strewing).

Once the daily work is done, move onto the weekly theme activities ---

MONDAYS: Make something Mondays! Make a craft, a recipe, build something, Lego, etc.

TUESDAYS: Tuesday Teatime! Share a poem or song lyrics over tea and a yummy snack.

Also we can have Take a Trip Tuesdays! Take a field trip (virtual or real), maybe go to a movie theatre, a museum, take a nature walk, go to the park or some other fun outing.

WEDNESDAYS: DEAD (Drop Everything And Draw) Wednesdays! Check out the drawing pinterest board for ideas, freestyle, or check out a drawing book for ideas.

Also Wednesdays would be a great day for your student to take the DRIVER'S SEAT – have them teach you! They could teach you about a favorite topic, movie, character, how to play a game and so much more.

THURSDAYS: Thinking Thursdays! Go to the library and check out some new books and videos that interest you. Do some research online. Look over your “wondering” list. Do a science experiment. Spend some time on educational websites.

FRIDAYS: Fresh and Fun Fridays! Do a fun idea from Pinterest. Have a friend over. Watch a movie in the afternoon. Play a board game or video game together.

SATURDAY: Ketchup Day! Use this day to catch up one any daily work you might have missed (get it... catch-up day!) :o)

Familiarity breeds insensitivity

Familiarity breeds insensitivity -- http://blog.bravewriter.com/2013/08/31/familiarity-breeds-insensitivity/

I am guilty of this –> “There are some remarks parents don’t realize are insensitive. When a child is hurting over a rejection, suggesting the child examine her behavior for how she might have alienated the friend can feel like piling on.”

Why is parenting so hard????  Sigh.