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Colin Harden: Magic Loving Musician with an Entrepreneurial Spirit

Colin Harden  is a homeschooled 14-year-old who enjoys Magic the Gathering, music, and school work (much less so than the other two). How long have you been homeschooling? 6 years What is your favorite part of being homeschooled? Learning at my own pace. What are your passions? Musical Theatre and card games How has homeschooling affected your ability to work on those? It has increased my options and ability to enjoy both.  I don't have homework and all my school work is homework...get it.. lol. I can also take time off if I am in the middle of a production, …

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Review of R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Astronomy 2

Review of R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Astronomy 2 R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Astronomy 2 from Pandia Press brings top quality secular science into your home or classroom in an engaging hands-on manner. Scientist and author, Blair Lee, has a conversational writing style that opens up serious science topics to students in a way that invites them on a journey through learning. The combination of thorough science education, fun labs and activities, and the author’s ability to share vast amounts of information without overwhelming a novice makes RSO Astronomy 2 an excellent course for both students who love science, and those who do …

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Using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Biology 2 for High School

Using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Biology 2 for High School Before I get into the specifics of how to do this, I would tell you to relax about this. About six months before Sean started ninth grade, I looked over the California A – G requirements. These are the specific course requirements students need in order to be considered for application to one of the University of California, UC, schools. This university system is considered by many to be one of the top university systems in the United States. Within each of these requirements you can look at the content UC …

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Homeschooling Saved My Life

Homeschooling Saved My Life By Beverly Burgess There’s a place that I don’t like to visit. I stayed there for quite a while a few years ago, and some days it unwillingly calls me back. Instead, I dig in my heels like a petulant child, unwilling to obey. More than eight years ago, I thought I might never see my children or husband again. In August, on my birthday to be exact, I was working in the ICU as a registered nurse on the night shift. I didn’t feel great going into work that night, but didn’t feel bad enough …

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How to Put Together the Best Science Field Trip

How to Put Together the Best Science Field Trip Field trips aren’t just fun; they are also educational! Field trips give kids opportunities for hands-on learning, allow for new experiences, and lead to a better understanding of topics. By taking science field trips, kids can experience things that expense and expertise put out of most people’s reach. By following a few simple tips, you can ensure the science field trips this year are the best ever. When planning what your children will study in science during the coming year, start thinking of when and where field trips would make sense. …

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Unschooling When You Can; Teach When You Must

By Kate Laird Kate Laird will be participating in SEA Homeschoolers’ School of Choice Week, 2017, airing from January 22 to 28, 2017. Kate’s podcast will air on January 25. Our school is an intersection of classical education and unschooling.  I think of my philosophy as unschool when you can; teach when you must. Children love learning, they love making discoveries and they love being left alone to learn. I trust them to do this. Almost. If I left my children to completely unschool, they would read thousands of books and paint thousands of pictures, but they wouldn’t do math. …

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A Homeschool Dad Tells About His Recent Service Project in Guatemala

A Homeschool Dad Tells About His Recent Service Project in Guatemala As some of you may know, service and volunteerism are part of our family’s philosophy. Blair, my wife and founder of SEA Homeschoolers, has previously written about this aspect of our family on her blog and here on SEA. In fact, as I’m writing this, she and our son Sean are in downtown San Diego helping newly naturalized citizens register to vote as they exit their final ceremony with their citizenship documents in hand. I was there with them last month, and it is awesome to see the excitement …

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“unschool when you can, teach when you must”

Review of Homeschool Teacher by Kate Laird November Book Review When Kate Laird contacted me to ask if I would review her book Homeschool Teacher, her email said, “of all the homeschooling communities I’ve seen online and in real life, SEA Homeschoolers is the one that most closely resembles my approach and where I feel I’ve found my “tribe.” I’m sure there are going to be elements of the book that you disagree with, but I hope you find it a book you wished you’d read when you began homeschooling. Like you, I read the Well Trained Mind early on, …

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A Handcrafted Education The High School Years

A Handcrafted Education: The High School Years Oh No! The dreaded “H” word (and I don’t mean handcrafted)! If there is one thing that causes homeschooling parents to panic it is the thought of homeschooling through high school. What if we get it wrong? What if somehow we fail our children, and they cannot … cannot … cannot … wait, cannot what exactly? How is it that we as homeschoolers fall into this trap so common to traditional school parents?!? Why I sometimes wonder, even though I do it myself, did we all drink the Kool-Aid and continue to perpetuate …

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Project Based Learning: through the Lens of Politics and Activism

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge. http://bie.org/about/what_pbl         This year we used Project Based Learning, PBL, for one of the most dynamic and exciting years of all the 10 years we have been homeschooling. Several times this year, my son told me he had never been so proud of himself. Our journey through homeschooling has had highs and lows. What happened this year to make it such a high? Project Based Learning: …

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Using RSO Biology 2 for High School Biology

Using RSO Biology 2 for High School Biology There is a planned level 3 book that will use the Level 2 book with added material in each chapter and in each unit. In the mean time, I am getting many requests for how Biology 2 could be brought up to the high school level. Some parts of it, like the microscope section, are already at a Level 2 and 3. This is not as complete as the level 3 book will be, but like these suggestions, the level 3 book will use Bio 2 and add to it. Before I get into the specifics of how …

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Homeschooling a Special Needs Child

Homeschooling a Special Needs Child I am a huge advocate for families homeschooling their children with special needs. I believe schools are high stress, low engagement, and very punishing environments for children who learn out of the box. Parents are vested in the overall well-being of their children and know their children the best. This makes parents who can manage it, the best educators for these children. It is easy to become overwhelmed, though, when your job extends from parenting to include educating. In the years I have worked in education, I have applied the following methods in both home and …

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Handcrafting High School: Year 2, Custer State Park

Handcrafting High School: Year 2, Custer State Park I think the year you study geology and environmental science, you should spend time outside looking at the subject of your studies, so we did. I did not keep a daily journal, because I had writer’s block. Something I had never experienced before. It gave me insight into what happens for kids who have good ideas but can’t get them onto a page. My writer’s block made me feel like my brain was constipated. I had so many ideas running around in my head I had trouble getting anything out at all. …

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Handcrafting High School: Year 2, Month 1: Re-member

Handcrafting High School: Year 2, Month 1: Re-member I’m going to depart a bit and tell you about what we learned. I think it is the best way for you to get a feel for the profound benefits of exposing young people to this sort of service project where there is service directly to a community, field trips in the community, and talks from members of the community. Talks given by members of this community, while you are volunteering in it, that focus on issues the community is dealing with and has dealt with, are educational in a way no other academic …

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Homeschooling the Twice-Exceptional Student – There Will Be Gaps and That’s OK

This young man is incredibly creative and he is twice-exceptional. He makes movies, writes stories, animates, composes, records original songs, and works on other creative endeavors all day long. He is never idle, never bored. My son works from the moment he wakes up, which is usually before 7:00, and stays busy until around 10:00 at night when he finally tires out and heads to bed. Sleep usually comes an hour later when his mind finally calms down. Most days I am in awe of all he does. It really is amazing. But it is also incredibly frustrating, and at times, overwhelming …

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