Monday, November 28, 2011
Counting Down to Christmas
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Giving Thanks and Weekend Links
Many things that I've read or overheard lately have mentioned how the Thanksgiving holiday is becoming increasingly overlooked. Plenty of people are up in arms about the encroachment of Black Friday shopping hours which, for many stores, now begin almost immediately after the turkey is served. Much of the world does seem to look past Thanksgiving toward Christmas once the calendar page turns to November.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Because Sometimes Everyone Gets Sick
But then you look up from
Monday, November 14, 2011
The “08″ Homeschooling Option
- Are comfortable citing religious beliefs as a reason to seek private education for your children.
- Have a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University
- Are able to submit notification before September 30th of the new school year
- Do not wish to take advantage of any “auxiliary services”
- Much LESS paperwork to submit. No curriculum outline or book list is needed and there are no requirements to submit standardized test scores or a portfolio review each year.
- You must submit your form by September 30th for the school year (so it’s too late for this school year). If you’re deciding to homeschool in the middle of a school year, then this option would have to wait until the next school year.
- Each family operating as an 08 school should be aware that the Department of Education maintains a list of all non-chartered, non-tax supported schools which may be obtained by request from the Department. Families that desire to protect their privacy may wish to operate under the homeschool statute rather than as an 08 school.
- Each non-chartered, non-tax supported school has to comply with state and local health, fire, and safety laws. The courts have concluded that the only health, fire, and safety laws that apply to single-family private schools are those which apply to single-family residences.
- As a non-chartered, non-tax supported school you ARE eligible for Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO); a program permitting high-school students to earn college credit or high school graduation credit through college coursework. More info on that can be found here.
- Ability to participate in school sports appears to be at the discretion of each school district, the exception being if you are enrolled part-time in the high school – then you are automatically eligible. It is my understanding (someone correct me, if I’m wrong!) that the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) controls participation.
Friday, November 11, 2011
This, That and Things To Do
Just thought I'd take some time to highlight a few things happening in the homeschooling community. Please chime in with a comment if there's anything you'd like to let people know about or contact me anytime.
Check out the Homeschool Freebies website today for a great deal! Over $300 worth of items for only $11 - only today, so check it out.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Lego KidsFest 2011
I woke up yesterday feeling like I'd been run over by a truck in my sleep. I'm pretty sure this had at least something to do with spending most of the previous day at the Lego KidsFest. Did you go? If you were there, I was the harried-looking mom surrounded by her many boys.
Oh, wait. That describes pretty much everyone there.
At first, I wasn't going to write about an event that's over (hey, everyone - I went to this really great event in Cleveland over the weekend! Let me tell you all about it even though you can't go anymore!). But then I decided that I wanted to write about it anyway. Maybe you didn't go and would like to know what it was all about? Maybe it will be in Cleveland or a nearby city next year and instead of trying to rack my mommy brain for the details to share with you I can simply refer to this post?
As I've mentioned before, I have four boys, so our house is approximately 80% covered in Legos at any given moment. After their schoolwork is done or we've come home from being gone for the day, my boys always immediately retreat to their Lego areas to play. So when a friend of mine told me about the Lego Fest coming to Cleveland, my husband and I decided that we HAD to take our boys. We bought tickets but didn't tell them where we were going - we really wanted to surprise them. And it was worth it to see the looks on their little faces when they saw the huge Lego Kidsfest sign as we neared the I-X Center.
Inside was Lego pandemonium!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Sometimes You Need a Schedule of Sorts
But now he's one and so there's really no excuse, is there?
Except that I forgot how much time you can spend each day just trying to keep a one year old out of trouble!
Once the baby was finally taking somewhat regular naps, I decided we needed to buckle down and resume some kind of consistent school routine. After a few days of throwing books at each kid throughout the day and trying desperately to divide my attention between the four children I gave up. For awhile. (You can read this post about our "typical" day trying to fit in school with a newborn if you want a good laugh).