My Home Sweet Home » homeschooling

Camera Phone Friday: Wrapping Up the School Year Edition

Dawn — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:16:20 +0000

1. A big door prize winner! #inrl, 2. More goodies!! #inrl, 3. Had a wonderful time today at our #inrl meetup with @oohamanda @womanonajourney @momsmustardseeds, 4. Cruising down the road (see my hand?)

It’s testimony to just how busy we’ve been that I haven’t posted since last week’s Camera Phone Friday. Three of the photos above are from the (in)RL that I hosted in our home last Saturday. Were you part of this wonderful event? If not and if the idea of going to an unfamiliar place and meeting up with a bunch of strangers gives you hives, please read this lovely post from my dear friend, Deidra.

The two ladies holding those big canvases won them as door prizes because they arrived at my doorstep in spite of the fact that they didn’t know anyone here. That’s really walking (in)courage, huh? (Bad pun, I know.)

Speaking of (in)RL, did you see the video of Sara’s Story? Sara was a fellow (in)courage author who passed away in September (I wrote about a conversation we had concerning the beauty in the mundane here). You might want to grab a Kleenex before you hit play, but seriously, even if you didn’t know Sara you’ll be blessed by this story of her example and the impact it made on others. I was already crying before we started filming my portion.

Our week has been packed with wrap-up activities including the last day of classes for our Classical Conversations community and our spring choir concert. A bunch of our CC crowd is camping at the lake this weekend. We don’t have camping equipment (in spite of our name) and a baseball game tomorrow, so we’re just going to pop in and out and hang out with the gang.

And of course, we’ll be at Moe’s Saturday for Cinco de Moe’s—$3 burritos!

Speaking of Moe’s, did I tell y’all that I’ve been invited to be a Moe’s advisory board blogger? Unfortunately, the big kick-off for the program was here in Atlanta (Moe’s is based here) on the weekend when I went to Photoshop World in March. So I missed it.

Well, yesterday I got an invitation to lunch next month with Moe’s President and their Executive Chef. I’m nervously analyzing what Moe’s items I eat in the neatest way, cause I can make a serious mess. My mother joked about how fun it would be to hold a fancy dinner party and serve tacos, because you just can’t eat them neatly. Hopefully I won’t drop a blob of sour cream in my lap. That would be nice.

May’s Desktop Calendar, Take 4

Although I’ve managed to submit one version without the full verse, one labeled as April instead of May, and one where the zip file apparently was empty, you can now download an accurate desktop calendar at (in)courage. This month’s verse really speaks to me. Just look for the link that says Calendar (May) under the blog header at the top of page. Fourth time’s a charm!

I’ve missed you guys and the blog this week! What did your camera phone capture?

Camera Phone Friday: Wrapping Up the School Year Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Today’s Teens Don’t Have to Be Social Misfits

Dawn — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:54:31 +0000

I struggled with that title. Kind of harsh, isn’t it? True, though. Teens get a bad rap in today’s society, usually well deserved. We associate them with ~~awful~~ loud music, inappropriate clothing, bad manners, and no concept that they need to take responsibility or look to the future.

If you harbor this preconceived notion, taking a walk through a shopping mall is usually enough to cement it. The joke is that teens don’t want to be seen in public with their parents, but I’d imagine most parents wouldn’t want to be seen with them.

Now that I’ve thoroughly dissed them, I’m going to take it back: today’s teens do not have to be social misfits. They can be well-behaved, clever, fun, and appropriately dressed, and when they are, you’re pleased to be seen in public with them because they prove that preconceived notions can be shattered.

My husband and I and a few other adults accompanied twenty-five teens to a nice restaurant and the opera last Friday night for our Spring Protocol event. Protocol is an occasion to get all dressed up and go out on the town and takes place each spring for high school students in Classical Conversations, a one-day-per-week program for homeschooled students. After the opera we returned for a dance and reception organized by the other moms, who’d created something that looked like a mini wedding reception in our absence, chocolate fountain and all.

I’m not saying that teens shouldn’t be funny and silly. I prefer them that way.

Don’t you?

Believe it or not, there are teens in this world who don’t have a problem hanging out with adults. Some actually like their parents, in spite of what the culture will tell you.

Never assume that your child is perfect or say “My child would never do that”—you’re probably setting yourself up for big disappointment. However, you can enjoy your teens! And teens: choose to be countercultural and pleasantly surprise all of those people who expect the worst from you.

I hope this is an encouragement to parents who’ve dreaded the teen years. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a plug here for homeschooling and the Classical Conversations program. This is our 19th year as a homeschooling family and our 3rd year with CC.

What about you? Got teens?

And teens? I’d love to hear from you!

Today’s Teens Don’t Have to Be Social Misfits is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

31 Days of Real Life: The Lasting Effect of Memory Work

Dawn — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:30:09 +0000

Do you realize that those crazy rugrats running around your house have an amazing capacity for memorization? Don’t squander it! I wrote about it almost exactly 2 years ago, but the lesson was driven home to me again today by an example from my own childhood.

I attended a live production of Macbeth at the Shakespeare Tavern in downtown Atlanta with my son’s Classical Conversations Challenge III class. In the 5th act Macbeth stepped alone to the front of the stage and launched into the famous “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy. And I mouthed the words right along with him.

I memorized this slice of Shakespeare approximately 28 years ago. My English teacher surely would be proud, but probably not surprised.

Don’t confuse the capabilities of your tired, stressed adult brain with the mental gymnastics your children may be capable of performing. Math facts; states and capitals; the grammar of a subject; history dates; Shakespeare’s soliloquys: fill those heads now with facts that just might stick for a lifetime.

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All 31 Days of Real Life posts can be found here. Other 31 Dayers can be found here.

31 Days of Real Life: The Lasting Effect of Memory Work is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

31 Days of Real Life: Homeschool Attendance Reports (a giveaway for Georgia homeschoolers)

Dawn — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:36:34 +0000

The monthly attendance reports that homeschoolers are required to submit in Georgia cramp my style. I’m thankful to live in a good state for homeschoolers, but it’s just plain easy to forget about those forms. If you do, however, you can expect a letter or call from your county, and if you have a high schooler, it can affect their ability to get a driver’s permit or license.

This summer I learned about a service called Homeschool Compliance, which is accepted in 110 Georgia counties. Set up an account and log into the secure site; enter your family information, dates for your current school year, etc.; create an electronic signature (quite entertaining); and submit your monthly attendance online. No stamps, printer ink, paper, or envelopes!

Your family info—those details that we fill in over and over again each month—are pre-populated and all Monday-Friday dates are pre-checked. The system automatically calculates the total days of attendance for the month and the cumulative days for the year, time-saving features that make filling out your form a breeze.

It literally takes seconds to submit your monthly attendance.

You’ll receive monthly reminders to submit and an email receipt when the report has been received by your local school system. You can have PDF copies of the reports emailed to you for your records, and they are always available on the website, too. View a demo video here.

Win a free year of Homeschool Compliance! (do one or all, leave a comment for each)

(Remember that this service is for Georgia homeschoolers.)

Leave a comment: Do you have an attendance form horror story, or do you usually remember to submit?
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Contest ends Sunday, October 16.

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All 31 Days of Real Life posts can be found here. Other 31 Dayers can be found here.

31 Days of Real Life: Homeschool Attendance Reports (a giveaway for Georgia homeschoolers) is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

And it Begins: A New School Year

Dawn — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:30:11 +0000

We started a new year of Classical Conversations classes on Tuesday and I’ll be perfectly honest: I wasn’t ready to let go of summer break. Last year was my first time tutoring Challenge II—the equivalent of 10th grade—and it monopolized my life and attention for the school year. I knew the first year would be an investment and the prep work would never again be as intense, but still the question nagged . . .

Can I have a life and teach this class?

Yes, apparently.

Company last week; a busy weekend and important church conference Sunday; one son returning to college and another moving back home: all of these combined to keep my focus on faith and family instead of Algebra 2 and British Lit in the days leading up to the first day of class.

Sunday night I sat in the floor with some of my older kids as we shared our hearts and dreams and engaged in that level of conversation that bonds and brands you as family.

No frozen pizza the night before my son would fly back to Dallas for his sophomore year of college. I made the Pioneer Woman‘s chicken pot pie for the first time (best. chicken. pot. pie. ever.) and we sat around the table and enjoyed each other’s company.

And then I stood on my front porch and cried as he drove away with his daddy for the airport, less than two hours before my first day of tutoring began. By the time I’d finished, he’d landed in Texas.

There are nine really neat kids in my class and our first day was wonderful. Hopefully I can juggle both my family and my class, as imperfect as my efforts may sometimes be.

This is totally unrelated, but while editing a batch of photos tonight I saw these from the Southeast Homeschool Expo. On the left is Graham Hepburn, Quaver of Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music, and on the right is Steve Demme of Math-U-See. I’m on the advisory council for Quaver and I worked the Math-U-See booth at Georgia homeschool conferences for years, so it was pretty cool introducing them, even if I acquired a pair of bunny ears in the process.

Has your new school year started, and if so, did you jump right in or resist like I did?

And it Begins: A New School Year is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

The Southeast Homeschool Expo is this weekend! See you there?

Dawn — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 03:10:30 +0000

The Southeast Homeschool Expo is this Friday and Saturday at the Cobb Galleria Centre here in Atlanta. I’ll be working at Quaver Music’s super cool, techy booth (your kids will love it). Classical Conversations will be represented, too (I’m a Challenge II tutor—approximately 10th grade, but appropriate for students in grades 9-12).

Our Cumming location has spots available for Challenge II and III, so stop by the CC booth (or visit me at Quaver’s booth) for more information.

Will you be there?

What Inspires You?

Dawn — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:37:31 +0000

I had the most awesome time last week working at the Quaver Music booth at the Southeast Homeschool Convention. Working for vendors at conferences for the past few years has meant no wandering through the vendor hall or listening to speakers. One of the most important things a homeschool mom can do is keep herself inspired, her batteries charged.

A desire and love for learning is contagious.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing booth was close to ours, and I met Andrew Pudewa, it’s director. I heard his Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day talk at an online homeschool conference about 3 years ago and wanted to see it live (if you are a homeschooling mom or a teacher in any setting, this linked audio download is well worth your $3).

Although that was the only live session I could attend, I bought four conference CDs from other speaker sessions: two from Andrew Kern (“Teaching Classical Literature Classically” and “Introduction to the Lost Tools of Writing”); one from Jim Weiss, storyteller extraordinaire; and one on finding college scholarships that I thought might be helpful. I’ve never met Andrew Kern, but was able to speak individually with the other two gentlemen as well as Memoria Press’s Martin Cothran, author of the logic book used in the Classical Conversations Challenge II class I teach.

I left early Saturday in order to attend the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra that evening with area Classical Conversations high school classes. We stayed afterward for an informal audience Q&A session with the guest conductor and pianist, two young men of exceptional passion and talent.

What I brought home from the convention—the one live session and two audio CDs I’ve heard so far, and the conversations—combined with the symphony really motivated me and set my wheels turning.

These sorts of opportunities might not be readily available everyday, but others are. What am I “feeding” myself? What do I allow to inspire me? A mind that doesn’t venture beyond superficial knowledge and pop culture, will surely atrophy.

What inspires you?

Related Posts:

Be sure to check out The Carnival of Homeschooling at The Homeschool Post!

Are You Going to the Southeast Homeschool Convention?

Dawn — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:30:59 +0000

The Southeast Homeschool Convention in Greenville, SC, this Thursday-Saturday boasts one of the best speaker lineups I’ve seen: Andrew Pudewah, Leigh Bortins, Jim Weiss, Andrew Kern, Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Bauer, Jay Wile, Jeannie Fulbright, Ken Ham—they even have Tim Hawkins performing live. I’ll be attending with Quaver Music, so if you’re there stop by the booth and check out their awesome music program and say hi!

The conference hashtage is #SouthEastHS on Twitter. Who’s going?

Surviving March: Dealing with Homeschool Burnout

Dawn — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 05:19:03 +0000

One yearly event has remained consistent in our eighteen years as a homeschooling family: March burnout. It would be bad enough if it were only the kids, but it’s me, too. A combination of factors—primarily exhaustion and spring fever—contribute to this phenomena. Although it’s difficult to conquer, here are a few ideas for making the most of the March meh mindset.

Read the rest at The Homeschool Post.

March’s Desktop Wallpaper is Available Now at (in)courage

Dawn — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 04:17:44 +0000

March’s desktop wallpaper is available now at (in)courage. Look on the right side of the navigation bar (underneath the blog header) where it says Calendar (Mar.). Download the image (two sizes are available, a larger and a smaller), right click it and set as your wallpaper. Enjoy!

If you would like to buy an 8×10 print of this image (without text) and support a good cause, visit Especially Heather’s Etsy shop. Some of the girls at (in)courage have donated items to be sold to help purchase expensive educational software for Heather’s daughter’s iPad (enough money for the iPad was already raised). Emma recently suffered seizures that have left her unable to communicate effectively; the software would be a huge help. Read all about it here.

If you’re a homeschooler existing in a state of March burnout, I’ll have an article at The Homeschool Post this Sunday that will hopefully give you some ideas to invigorate your homeschool. I’ll link you to it then.