love to paint

This morning I read this article HERE  about a battle in education in Maryland.  In response, I wrote the following letter to the writer of the article that I thought I'd share here... Hello, I just read your article from Sunday's Sun about “A New Battle in Maryland Education”. I wanted to share a few things that might be interesting to include in future articles on the subject of testing and teacher evaluation. But, before I begin, I should explain who I am so you can understand the background I am speaking from. I earned my MA Ed in curriculum and instruction thirteen years ago. I taught middle school in Colorado and Texas. Then, I taught remedial math in a community college GED prep program in Georgia. I also taught math part-time in a private school in Georgia for one term. Since moving to Maryland eight years ago, I have been homeschooling my three children. I have seen all three modes of schooling (public, private, and homeschooling) and do not feel ...

Yesterday, I was at a friend's house and saw this great little book of McDonald Story Starters.  Unfortunately, when I looked online at Amazon, I couldn't find an inexpensive used copy, so I started searching the web for story starter websites. I came across this awesome one from Scholastic HERE !  The teacher's guide on Scholastic (a short set of lesson plan ideas on how to use the story starter tool).

Parenting. It's stretching.  My heart feels often like it's being pulled.  Honestly, my sanity is being pulled!  And then there's the hurting...  Hurting when another child says something mean to your child...or when an adult says something hurting to your child... or they are slighted or mistreated... or when one of your children says something about another that hurts.  I think they all hurt horribly.  And when our children get off track, we hurt. So, what do you do with that hurt?  I look to my friends.  I ask questions like I did last Sunday of my friend Jenny.  I asked if she had ever encountered what I was trying to tackle with my kiddos last Saturday.  We talked and it helped.  It gave me food for thought.  I do this a lot.  I talk to my friends who have children just a few steps ahead of mine or at the same place/age as mine.  It helps give me perspective that I'm not alone, reminds me to hope, and helps m...

At swim class a few weeks ago, my girls' friends with brought Uno with them.  Every week since, my girls have tried to take a game with them.  My kids love games and they've had a few favorites along the way.  I thought I'd share a short list of them.   Ages 5 and under * Zingo (4 and 5) Tumbling Towers * Hullabaloo by Cranium Cranium Cariboo (only found at garage sales now) Any Bingo game Hi-ho Cherry-O Candyland Ages 5-7 * Life (the old version, not the new one is my preference) * Zooreka by Cranium Sherluck What Time is It? by Eeboo (called Eeboo time telling game on Amazon) * Wig Out * Battle Ship * Blokus (square edition) * Uno * Connect 4 Sum Swamp (good for practicing kindergarten level addition and subtraction) by Learning Resources * Sequence for Kids (may be better under 8 and up though) Ages 8 and up * Catan (basic edition) * Risk (classic edition) * Make it and Break It (this was such a hit because both...

I think that I, like many homeschool moms have the best of intentions sometimes.  We plan on bringing together curriculum from multiple sources and then getting it all together.  One of the tricky parts of this method is finding the time! A few years ago, I wrote a third grade inventions unit while I was getting my master's degree.  It has been sitting on my desk for a month... waiting for me to pull lesson plans from it for my children's invention unit.  When I pulled it out this morning and sat down with it, I realized I didn't have the time to make additional worksheets and bring it all together.  So, I started a quick search on the web and came across this first grade blog... http://firstgradewow.blogspot.com/2014/01/historical-figures-mlk-and-inventors.html The blogger has posted a free inventors unit.  Yes, it is for first grade and yes, I will be using it with my older children.  But, honestly, the difference between first and third gra...

In the morning, I wake up and switch the laundry.  Then, I make my way to my kitchen and begin the coffee, empty the dishwasher, and clean up the counters.  Once that's done, I start on my husband's breakfast and lunch.  When he leaves for work, I sit down, read a few minutes, and try to get my mind around the day ahead. I have to start my day by getting my counters clean.  If I don't, I feel frazzled inside.  I feel like I'm behind the 8 ball before I even start my day.  I have to admit, though, that I hate wasting time drying dishes.  So, I have a drying mat that all my hand washed dishes dry on in the morning.  The dirty pile of dishes becomes a clean pile that will dry over the next few hours.   Sometimes it feels like these piles won't ever get taken care of.  Yet, somehow, they always do.  I just keep pressing on.  Some days I have one load of laundry and some I have three!   The past few weeks have pressed in ...