Career Day

Prospering Oaks, a local homeschool co-op, is hosting a career day for all junior high and high school students in our area.  Whether you have students in a public school, private school or at home-----you are invited to attend!  There will be fun for the whole family, so younger children are welcome too.

The career day will be held on June 21, 2014 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at Oakleaf Baptist Church.  Over 30 professionals will be available to tell students about their jobs and to answer questions.  Tickets can be purchased in advance and are $5.50 per family.  Tickets at the door on the day of the event are $10 per family.

To find out more information, see a list of professions represented, and purchase a ticket, please go to http://www.prosperingoaks.com/career-day/.

If you'd like a flyer to help spread the word to other families by email or in person, you can download one here.

Site Seeing: Good Books Good Times!

Site Seeing:  An Online Tour of Educational Resources
Today's Focus:  Book Lists
Please be sure to thoroughly preview all links before using them with your children.

Our family loves to read! This post will highlight some of the online book lists that have been helpful to me:

1000 Good Books List-
http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html
Book list compiled by the Classical Christian Education Support Loop
The list is divided into four levels:  primary, elementary, junior and senior.

Paula's Archives is home to several helpful book lists:

• Literature to Supplement History
  http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/history.htm
• Living Books for Science
  http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/sciencebooks.htm
• Easy Chapter Books
  http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/easychapter.htm

Living Math-
http://livingmath.net/readersbyconcept/tabid/268/default.aspx
The Living Math website is a wonderful resource for connecting math and literature---and more!  (For now, I'll focus on the books.)  The site has many book lists based on different math concepts such as probability, multiplication, and fractions----just to name a few.

The Scholastic Book Wizard
http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do
This fantastic site enables visitors to generate customized lists of books based on reading level, genre, subject, and book type.

The Great Books.com
http://www.thegreatbooks.com/
This site is one I have bookmarked for the future----a wonderful resource for high school level study of the great books.  Not only are books listed on the site, there are also study guides avaiable for many of the books.   This site is maintained by Worldview Academy, and there is a list of ten suggested books for better understanding the Christian faith as a worldview on the site as well.

And in a post about how to find good books, I feel I would be remiss in neglecting to mention some wonderful curriculum sites I have frequented so regularly that I have committed many of their book recommendations to memory.  My favorites are Ambleside Online, Simply Charlotte Mason, Veritas Press, Heart of Dakota, and Sonlight.

Do you have a favorite online booklist?  Please share it in the comments below.

Registering with the District to Homeschool

One option for educating children at home in Florida, is to register as a homeschooler with your local school district (county).  Registering is very simple, and should be done within thirty days of beginning your homeschool program.

To register you may simply write a dated "Letter of Intent" to your district superintendent stating these things:

• Child's name
• Child's address
• Child's birthdate

Then sign your letter and mail it to your superintendent at the county office.*  Though it is not required, it is a good idea to send your letter "certified, return receipt requested", so that you  know the district received your letter and you have written verification of this. 

Your district may provide forms for you to fill out instead of writing a letter, but please know that these forms are not mandatory----they are completely optional.  By law, you are only required to write a letter containing the above information.  You can see a sample letter of intent on the Florida Parent- Educators Association's (FPEA) site.

The date of your letter becomes the due date of your annual evaluation, so be sure to keep a copy of your letter and write the date on your calendar.

 
At this posting, Clay County homeschoolers are asked to send letters to the Clay County Home Education Office, 2306 Kingsley Avenue Building #20, Orange Park, FL 32073) or you may email hscinfo(at)myoneclay.net.  (District Home Education Website)

If you have any questions or concerns about where to mail your letter of intent, please call the district office directly to confirm the mailing address. (I will update this post if the policy changes.  Last update:  July, 2016 to update county contact mailing and email address.)

Site Seeing: Curriculum Review Sites

A Online Tour of Educational Resources with a different focus area for each "tour".

Today's Focus:  Curriculum Review Sites
Please be sure to thoroughly preview all links before using them with your family.

When making decisions about different curriculum choices, it always nice to be able to view your choices first hand whether it's shopping at a convention vendor hall or local store; or sitting in a friend's home.  However, it is not always possible to come across what you are looking for in person; and as a next best choice----curriculum review sites can really help to give you a variety of viewpoints on materials.

The following sites may provide just the help needed:

Cathy Duffy Reviews-
http://www.grovepublishing.com/
Cathy Duffy's review site is very helpful.  She gives thorough reviews and is a trusted source of information.  As a side note, her book 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum has a great section on helping the homeschooling parent discover preferred methods of teaching and learning----and then recommends curriculum based on the results of questions answered.

Homeschool Reviews-
http://homeschoolreviews.com/
Homeschool reviews is a fabulous resource for reviews written by fellow homeschoolers.

The Curriculum Choice-
http://thecurriculumchoice.com/curriculum-reviews/
Although the format is a bit different than the previous two sites and searching for information may take a little longer, The Curriculum Choice is an excellent collection of reviews. Since the site is hosted/written in blog format, you can also subscribe for future updates.  And, if you are interested in writing curriculum reviews, they are looking for more regular writers.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Reviews-
http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Homeschool_Reviews/
A categorized listing of over 4,000 educational products.

The Well Trained Mind Forum-
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/
I know this isn't a review site, but if you are willing spend a few minutes searching for information, your efforts will likely be rewarded.  The forums at the Well Trained Mind are some of the most active on the internet and they are a wealth of information.  Just use the "search" feature to find posts about a particular curriculum.  And even though it is the Well Trained Mind board non-"classical" curriculum is discussed there as well.

Many other curriculum companies host forums as well, and those can be a place to find really good information too.  Most posters are interested in helping others and give very frank reviews of materials.

Do you have a favorite source for curriculum reviews?  Please feel free to leave it in the comment section to share it with others.  Thank you!

Clip art source:  http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/--Thank you!

Fourth of July Fun!

I recetnly received the latest "Celebrating Holidays" newsletter, and discovered a treasure trove of Independence Day resources-----so nice, I wanted to pass them along!  The site has a section on Independence Day history, symbols, songs, stories, recipes and crafts.

The folks at Celebrating Holidays hope to continue adding content to the site, so you may want to susbcribe to their newsletter to receive future updates as well.
Enjoy!

Site Seeing: Bible Study

Site Seeing:  A Online Tour of Educational Resources with a different focus area on each tour.

Today's Focus:  Bible Study and the Christian Faith for Children
Please be sure to thoroughly preview all links before using them with your family.
There are some wonderful resources for Bible study online, and today's highlights feature study tools for children and those who lead them. 

Teaching With God's Heart for the World-
http://harvestministry.org/twghw
A FREE one year unit study curriculum.  All lesson plan content is online in PDF files.  
From the website:

The curriculum includes 160 day-by-day teaching plans, missionary highlights, motivational mission stories, crafts, songs, prayer projects, and hundreds of ways to incorporate a passion for the lost into nearly every subject (including Bible Study, Family Devotions, Reading, Writing, Geography, History, Art, Science, and even highlights for Math).
The curriculum presents a “whirlwind tour” of God’s enduring passion for missions, all-the-way-through-history and all-across-the-globe. Using weekly unit-studies, this curriculum is created to be used over a one-year school year, although it can be easily adapted to be used throughout two years. It can be used as a core curriculum guide (for elementary children), or as a supplement to another curriculum. It is written especially for elementary grade levels, but it can also be used for the whole family to study missions together.

Calvery Chapel Children's Ministry Curriculum-www.CalvaryCurriculum.com

325 Bible lessons from the Old and New Testament available in English and in Spanish.  Each lesson includes a Scripture references, a coloring page, questions and other activities.

Devotions from Josh McDowell-http://www.josh.org/resources/daily-devotional/

Keys For Kids Devotions-
http://cbhministries.org/kfk/home.php
Daily devotions for children from CBH Ministries.  You can read each devotion at the website or sign up for email delivery of devotions.

WonderZone.com-
http://www.wonderzone.com/

Bible devotions, a Bible Reading Club, video clips, games and other activities----plus a feature length film about Jesus for children.  Hosted by Child Evangelism Fellowship.  Some activities require site registration.

Wycliffe Bible Translators-Children's Lessons
http://www.wycliffe.org/Resources/Kids/FreeCurriculum.aspx
Ready, Set, Pray- A group of lessons on prayer including a wonderful monthly prayer journal for children (PDF) to lead them in prayer for Bible-less people groups.  There is also a prayer journal for older children (grades 6-9).  Site also includes a group of lessons on Bible translation, service learning project ideas, and more!

Impressionist Art

I originally wrote this article when an impressionist exhibit was coming to town.  It has since come and gone, but the list of resources might still prove helpful for art studies, so I am reposting it now.  :-)

If you know of other resources, please feel free to share them in the comment section below.

(Thank you so much to those who have organized curriculum, written about their own art studies or shared notebooking pages and other resources freely!)

• Nadene at Practical Pages has a wonderful Famous Impressionists page with many resources. 

• Jimmie's Freeebie Page includes an art section with a general art museum trip tips page and artist pages.

• Ambleside Online's art study page has several impressionists listed through the years.  If you visit this page you will also find links to their art print yahoo groups where you can make prints for your own studies.

Books that your family might enjoy (please preview before using with your family):

• Degas and the Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt
• Van Gogh and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt
• Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt
• Cezanne and the Apple Boy by Laurence Anholt
• and other books by Anholt (there are several others to choose from)
• Linnea in Monet's Garden by Cristina Bjork
• Katie Meets the Impressionists by James Mayhew
• Smart About Art:  Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings that Smile and others in the Smart About Art series (Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Cassatt)
• Edgar Degas by Mike Venezia and others in the Getting to Know the World's Great Artists series

DVDs (another reminder to preview....some may be more suited for adults.  I am just listing what I've come across to help others find them too)

• Linnea in Monet's Garden (available on Netflix streaming)
• Netflix also has video called "The Impressionists" on streaming and a BBC mini-series called "The Impressionists" which is different from the streaming title.  Also there is a series available for DVD rental called "The Impressionists:  ARTIST NAME"  Artists available are Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, Degas, Monet, Seurat and Van Gogh (a post impressionist)

Hands On Art Ideas:

• Discovering Great Artists: Hands On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (check out the table of contents at the Amazon preview...there are 9 impressionist artists listed and several post impressionists as well)--This is a great book that I have personally used.

• Monet and the Impressionists for Kids: Their Lives and Ideas:  21 Activities

The Cummer Museum offers FREE ADMISSION* each Tuesday from 4:00-9:00 p.m. so plan a visit while this unique exhibit will be in town!  (And then check the calendar for upcoming exhibits as well....there is always something wonderful to see at the museum!)

*Free Admission on Tuesday is available at the time of this post.  Please check the museum website before you visit to find out current admission policies.

Thanks to Wikipedia for Images in the Public Domain