Show and Tell ~ My Chemical Romance Box

Tori, age 12, painted this box. It's about her favorite band, My Chemical Romance.

Contemplation for the day

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Contemplation for the day:

"What does nothing look like?"
~Kaman, age 6

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Salina Area Homeschoolers

A Walk in the Park Unschooling Group will meet bi-weekly, every other Tuesday, beginning August 21. On August 21, we are having a picnic/park/swimming party beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Oakdale Park. Everyone should bring a brown-bag lunch and prepare to have fun! We are celebrating the Not Beginning of School. If anyone has any questions, they can contact coramdeo_intheeyesofGod@yahoo.com or 785-342-9823.

Our group is a no-cost compassionate unschooling group.

Show and Tell ~ Photos for the Fair

These are some of the pictures I might take to the 4-H Fair.

Maddie, age 8

Show and Tell ~ A Visit to Western Kansas

Spearville Wind Farm

Holden and Mackenzie in front of some of the 67 windmills just outside Spearville, Kansas. The wind farm generates enough electricity to power 33,000 homes!

We also visited the Sod House Museum in Kinsley.
This is a picture of the kitchen area in the sod house.

We saw some of the damage from the May 4 tornado. This picture was taken where the tornado crossed Highway 50 near Macksville.

Scary School Nightmare

A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Student!

I thought this was cute.

Salina Area Not Back to School Day

When: July 14
Where: Lakewood Park in Salina

There will be lots of fun activities for the kids plus information for new or upcoming homeschoolers about homeschooling and unschooling. Everyone is welcome to come. Kids can play at the park, explore the nature trails and create their own lapbook.

For more details email.

Unschooling Voices Reminder

I'm slow to post the notice, but there is still time to submit entries to the Unschooling Voices July Carnival.

July '07
Two questions again - please remember they're always optional. First, what advice would you have given to yourself early in your unschooling journey? Second, ask your kids to take pictures of their favorite ________ (favorite whatever; person, place, thing, etc). Don't forget to share them on our flickr group.

If you don't have a blog and would like to submit something, feel free to send it to tracy@kshomeschool.net and I will post it here.

How-To DVDs

Our family has long been a fan of Netflix, and this place rents how-to videos on a similar program. It was forwarded to me by a homeschooling family in western Kansas. I've already ordered my first video. There is an amazing selection of how-to programs; everything from home wiring and auto mechanics to computer graphics programs and oil painting. The rental price is generally $9.99 per DVD, but for an introduction to a subject you are interested in it is a lot cheaper than taking a class.

I've made KSHomeschool.net an affiliate, so click the link below to view the selection. Let us know if you find any that you or your kids especially like. It looks to me like there is a little something here for everyone. But teens and adults might especially benefit from some of the videos found here.

Update on the Rethinking Education Conference

Register by July 14, and get a $20 per person discount.
Also, grandparents can attend free of charge!
This year's featured speaker is John Taylor Gatto.

Rethinking Education Website

Show and Tell ~ LAHN and TAHN Field Trip

LAHN & TAHN Tour

Peeper Horse Ranch & Moon Marble

In April, kids from LAHN (Lawrence) and TAHN (Topeka) traveled to the Kansas City area to tour Peeper Horse Ranch and Moon Marble Company.

Overheard

"Every kid has a learning style that is going to unlock the world for them; I think some just need to get to push a lot of buttons in the process."
~Ann Vetter

Life is Good: NW Unschooling Conference

It's a long drive, but if you're looking to plan a vacation anyway:

LIFE is Good
NW Unschooling Conference
Red Lion Hotel ~ Vancouver, WA
Memorial Day Weekend, May 22 - 25, 2008
Learning In Freedom Everyday!

Arithmetic is child's play

I found this link at Wendy Priesnitz ~ Challenging Assumptions Weblog.

Press Release from the University of Nottingham.

Children are able to solve approximate addition or subtraction problems involving large numbers even before they have been taught arithmetic, according to a study conducted by researchers from The University of Nottingham and Harvard University.

The study, published in the journal Nature and undertaken at Harvard University, suggests that children do not need to master either the logic of place value or the addition table in order to perform approximate addition and subtraction.

Children's difficulty with learning school arithmetic may stem from the need to produce an exact number when solving problems.

I remember John Holt talking about this in one of his books (one of the early books I read on unschooling). It was timely, for me, as I remember witnessing this kind of innate skill in my oldest. She was probably around three at the time.

I am still impressed with the way my children trust themselves with numbers while I'm still counting on my fingers to "check" what I think I know.

Show and Tell ~ Book Recommendations

I recommend reading ttyl, ttfn and l8r, g8r. It is a series by Lauren Myracle. They are different than other books in that it is told from instant messages and texting. They are about three girls in high school and what happens to them during the three years each book is one year. They are fun books to read and they are hard to put down. I was kind of bugged by the fact that I didn't know what was going on in their school unless they explained it. But I really liked them and have read them several times. My mother has read them as well and enjoyed them too.
NOTE: there is language and sexual content.

Victoria, age 11 (almost 12!)

Show and Tell ~ Website

Evie's website This is Evie's first website. She has put it together using Yahoo PageBuilder, Microsoft FrontPage, and just the very basics of html.

Unschooling Voices #9

The June entries have been posted. This is a good place for browsing some fun unschooling blogs.

Science and Computer Camp for homeschool students

From Hesston College

I believe they have this camp every year. Article about the camp in case you have kids interested in attending next year.

Unschooling Coop Open House ~ Salina

Invite from Lea to Salina area homeschoolers:

Our first open house is Saturday, May 26 at the Salina library from 10am to noon. It will be in the Prescott Room (in the children's section). We will have snacks, unstructured activities and more info on us and what we have planned for the future. It is a come-and-go activity and is definitely optional. We will be having another one in June, possibly June 14th.

Our first group meeting will be on August 3rd at Jerry Ivey Park here in Salina. That will be a park day/picnic where we (as in everybody that comes) will discuss in detail more of what we want to plan and do as a group and a coop. The park has lots of room for outside games and has a water fountain for playing in as well as a duck pond. Our first coop day will follow at either the end of August or beginning of September. It will largly depend on what is planned at the August park day.

If you can't make it to any of these activities but you still want some info on us and to get to know us then you can check out our web page or email Lea at Payne15@cox.net or rebbecca at angel_eyes_becca_ and_hannah@ yahoo.com.

This is a co op where everybody is involved in the planning, participating and hosting of coop days. It is secular in nature and our goal is to not exclude anyone while at the same time keeping harmony among our members.

I'm really looking forward to meeting and talking with more unschoolers in the area (or even really far away if you're willing to drive).

~Lea