Homeschooling is a long-term proposition

The schoolhouse is still in business; we are still homeschooling and my head is still full of things to write about.  But we are still sidetracked by sickness - one child's mysterious symptoms that have been stumping us since August, and now a round of Bad Colds. 

It's tiresome but apparently not life-threatening so I should keep my complaining mouth shut.


This morning, as I contemplate another day that we will not produce anything for the homeschool portfolio, I am also reminded that homeschooling is a long-term proposition.  We are going through an unproductive season right now.  We are reading (together and separately) and slowly going through the math books (oh, very slowly!), and watching some recorded lectures.  I am confident (well, trying to be) that someday we'll see the fruit of this time, when there is a lot of input but little to no output of learning.

If Pennsylvania law did not require the portfolio of work samples, I could really enjoy this time of caring for my children, allowing rest and recovery.    My girl is making lots of beautiful Christmas cards, my boy is reading up a storm.  Both kids "won" NaNoWriMo two days ago, and continue to work on their stories.  (Yes, there will be an excerpt in the portfolio.) 

Kids' school years go by in the blink of an eye, and we don't want to waste time.  I have only a few years left with them and they still have a lot to learn before they head off to their adult lives.  But we don't want to be frantic.  We can allow for rest.  We have to find the balance between our family's particular needs and our legal requirements as homeschoolers.  It's not necessarily easy.  But we have to remember that homeschooling isn't about a particular year's production.  It's about an entire childhood and beyond.

My friend Susan wrote about her family's sabbatical homeschool year. I have read this over many times and it's time again, during our unplanned sabbatical.  You might find it useful and inspiring too.

Mean blogger

So someone told me (privately, of course) that I was a mean blogger the other day, when I commented on seeing a homeschool portfolio with the child's picture on the front when I was at the school district office picking up my own portfolios.  Here is what I said:

As I was walking out, one last binder caught my eye.  The cover sported a photo of a cute smiling boy.  I recognized him from some homeschool activities; I don't really know his family but we have crossed paths a few times.   If I wanted to be a mean person, I would point out that that portfolio looked like the cover of the stereotypical homeschool magazines we all love to mock. If you are a homeschooler, you know what I'm talking about - the one with the child joyfully doing math or helping a younger sibling with a science experiment, maybe with a smiling mom in the background, all perfectly coiffed and wearing cute plaid shirts or jumpers.

That was mean?  Really?  I said the boy was cute!  (He was.)

I guess I will give a nonapologetic politician-style apology and say:

I'm sorry if anyone was offended.   It was meant as a light-hearted sort of commentary, and was my true first reaction on seeing the photo. 

I don't hate you if you put a photo of your kid on his portfolio.  I don't understand you, but that's OK. You don't understand me either.   Fair enough?

Back from the land of the 3-inch binder

My school district homeschool liaison - the person who reviews homeschool portfolios - called today to tell me mine were ready to be picked up.  I was surprised at the quick turnaround; the deadline was just yesterday and usually it's mid-July before the reviews are done.  Since I was going to be out driving all over town today anyway, I stopped right in to pick them up.

Good thing I did, too, because the office is small and there were a lot of portfolios in there.  As always, my 1-inch binders were a little hard to find in the midst of all the packed 3-inchers.  I admit that I gazed around in wonder at the huge binders, packed full.  I wanted to peruse them!  How do people generate so much paperwork?

The liaison interpreted my wonder as insecurity.  She reassured me that our portfolios were fine (though she will send the official approval letter later on) and that the big ones were... unnecessary.  She quickly added that she enjoys looking through them, even though they contain much more than they need to.  There was one binder that must have been at least 5, maybe 6 inches thick - probably the biggest binder I've ever seen.  It was so packed things were falling out.  She did sigh a little when she saw me staring at that one. 

I told her that the size and contents of the portfolio is a constant topic of discussion among homeschool moms. She just laughed, and said "well, some people do like to keep it all, like a scrapbook."

Yes, indeed.  I'd heard that before, from a very earnest mom who proclaimed "I can't bear to throw any of it out!"  She seemed unable to comprehend the plain fact that "not turning it all in" does not have to equal "throwing it all out."   I am not kidding.   

No doubt I have ranted about minimal compliance here before.  This is the concept that we give the state what the law requires of us; no more and no less.  It doesn't mean having an adversarial relationship with the school district; it just means we  know what we are required to do, and we do it.   Some people complain that over-achievers who turn in every math worksheet and composition make it harder for those of us who don't.  I don't usually get into that argument, but I understand it.  If it appears homeschoolers want to be give the school district everything, they may come to expect it, and then require it.   But, it doesn't really matter to me what other people do, as long as I am not required to follow suit. 

I also see the difference between a scrapbook full of keepsakes and a legal document, which is what the portfolio is while it is in the hands of the school district.  I will keep some of my kids' work samples, their book lists, and the photos they took to document trips and projects.  But the daily log proving we fulfilled our 180 days?  The daily checklist on which I dutifully marked off every subject we covered?  Who cares? 

As I was walking out, one last binder caught my eye.  The cover sported a photo of a cute smiling boy.  I recognized him from some homeschool activities; I don't really know his family but we have crossed paths a few times.   If I wanted to be a mean person, I would point out that that portfolio looked like the cover of the stereotypical homeschool magazines we all love to mock. If you are a homeschooler, you know what I'm talking about - the one with the child joyfully doing math or helping a younger sibling with a science experiment, maybe with a smiling mom in the background, all perfectly coiffed and wearing cute plaid shirts or jumpers.

(What do our covers look like? They bear the child's name, my name, and our home address and phone.  Last year Eleanor drew some flowers on hers; she was going to do a new cover this year but never got around to it.  James didn't decorate his.  He's into minimal compliance too.)  

At that I decided I was getting too close to invading someone's privacy and got out.  I would have enjoyed talking to the liaison about the finer points of portfolio construction.  But she was busy.  She had a lot of huge binders to get through.

I felt so light as I walked out the door.

Field Trip: Science at Sea

Yesterday was one of our best field trips ever: a boat cruise with a team of marine biologists to study fish and other sea critters.  It was an amazing trip!

We boarded the Atlantic Star in Wildwood, New Jersey, to set off on our 3-hour tour with the biologists from the Wetlands Institute.

While on board, we learned about various sea creatures, like the horsehoe crab.  I'd never known that this crab had significance to humans; its blood is used to test intravenous drugs for bacteria.

We enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, calm day.  At one point there was a huge pod of dolphins - 50 or more - swimming around us.  None of my photos captured them well. It was better to stop trying to take pictures and just enjoy the scene. 

We also had the excitement of going under a drawbridge.  First time for me!  And for my kids.  In all we sailed in the Atlantic Ocean, Delaware Bay, and Cape May canal.

The main excitement, though, was deploying a trawl net, then hauling it back in to see the treasures inside.  All hands were needed to haul the net in.  Then the critters were put into various containers to be studied.  Afterward, they were returned to the sea.  

Dogfish

There were touch tanks and microscopes and lots of oohing and aahing. Certain words and phrases were banned:  "ewww," "gross," and "that's disgusting."

It was a fantastic day.  I am so thankful for homeschool moms who are able and willing to put trips like this together.  This is not something we could just go do on our own.  But, we could go visit The Westlands Institute sometime.  We didn't arrive early enough to visit yesterday but I think we'll be making a trip there pretty soon.  It's a 2-hour drive but we had good music to listen to and talk about in the car.  That's schooltime too. Yesterday it was "American Cultural Studies;" I introduced the kids to the Traveling Wilburys.

If you live near South Jersey, you should look into the Science at Sea program with your homeschool group.   

Not Back to School Day 2010: Island Beach State Park

When we began homeschooling, our family adopted a tradition of doing some special, fun thing when the public school year started.  Sometimes we went camping for a few days; most of the time we just went away for a long day trip. Usually we went to the beach.

When we moved three years ago, things changed a lot and we didn't have our not-back-to-school trip. I'm happy to say that yesterday we corrected that and went to the beach to celebrate the first day of school.

The beach in New Jersey is very different from the beaches in Oregon. This was only our second beach trip in the three years we've been here. That first trip was to Ocean City, a resort town with a popular beach and boardwalk. We were stunned and appalled by the beach there. My kids, used to deserted Oregon beaches, hated the crowds - umbrellas crammed so close together they were practically touching; a small swimming area with a lifeguard and no swimming outside the borders. No picnicking on the beach either! That rule was probably made to support the boardwalk businesses.

In any case, my beach-loving family has avoided the beach.

Then we heard about Island Beach State Park.   It looked like our kind of beach.  Quiet, secluded, concession-free.  Dogs are allowed in certain areas.

 

It was probably one of our most fun beach days ever.  We played in the water and sand, flew a kite, ran like crazy, and searched for shells.  There were a lot of shells. I don't know why we don't have pictures of shells.

Even teens need to build sand forts.

It was the first time we took our dog to the beach so it was fun watching him react to it.  He liked the water except when the waves were coming right at him. He can swim! And he loved it. He was one tired puppy on the way home.

We were all tired.

Island Beach is great discovery for people like us who prefer a quiet beach. There is an interpretive center; the rest of the family visited it for a few minutes while I stayed with the dog. It wasn't spectacular, but we have been to a lot of beach interpretive centers so maybe we're a little jaded. There are a few trails to walk but we just engaged in beach play till everyone was tired and the dog was being driven mad by flies.

We hope to go back. But even if we never make it back there, it was a great not-back-to-school day.

(Linked to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.)

Pennsylvania Field Trip: Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary has been on our list of places to visit for a long time.  Today was our first visit and we wish we had not waited so long.  It's a beautiful and interesting place. From their website:

Located in east-central Pennsylvania, Hawk Mountain is the world's first refuge for birds of prey. Open year-round, visitors enjoy scenic vistas, 8-miles of ridge and valley trails, a Visitor Center, Bookstore, and native plant garden, and each autumn, the chance to observe large numbers of hawks, eagles and falcons as they migrate past our lookouts. 

We started at the Visitor's Center to look at the displays and (of course) have a quick browse in the gift shop  Then we paid our trail fees, picked up a map and started walking.

Their website advises hiking boots, and that is good advice. The trail up to the first lookout is well-groomed and smooth; after that it's a little more rough and rocky.  Not difficult, but not a place for weak shoes.

There are several miles of trails in the Sanctuary but we opted to take the direct route to the lookout.  This is the season for seeing raptors so we didn't want to mess around.  The route to the lookout has a couple of options for your hiking pleasure.  The kids wanted to take the Escarpment Trail:

The escarpment trail leads off the North Lookout Trail closer to the ridge, and requires much boulder scrambling (climbing over large rocks). Be sure to wear hiking boots and to carry any items in a daypack so both hands are free for climbing. This trail connects to the Express Trail, leading hikers to North Lookout.

 I really didn't want to.  It was interesting to see how my kids took charge.  My boy and I had been trading the backpack and  he took it over. He and his sister went ahead of me to guide me to safe rocks.  I felt a little old, but I have always been clumsy and unbalanced. And, I have that mother fear of seeing my kids in precarious places. I really got a kick out of the way they took care of me.

It isn't a long trail to the top; about a mile, I think.  This is part of the view:

It was a pretty hazy, hot day so the visibility was not great.  There was not a lot of bird action at first. I somehow always get the expectation at these sorts of places that there will be birds flying around up close, as in a zoo. Well, of course it's not that way.  We did see some vultures and a hawk or two - I couldn't tell the difference but the ranger at the top could.   Binoculars are a must here.

Besides getting a lot of exercise, fresh air, and information about raptors, my kids got a little lesson in - I have to say it - socialization.  When we reached the top of the lookout there were several people already there, but no one was talking except the members of one family group.  And they were loud.  And the kids were not happy to be there and were ready to go home.  I can only imagine how the ranger felt hearing these kids complain about this horrible place their mother had brought them to.  They left shortly after we arrived, and after a few minutes the other people started talking quietly about the birds.  The atmosphere changed completely when the family left.  That was when we first started seeing birds, too, though they were too far away to be bothered by the whines of bored children.  That was a topic of conversation in my little family as we went back down the mountain.

We took the easier way down.

The Sanctuary also has a small native plant garden with a bird blind and a pond.  

Hawk Mountain is about 45 minutes west of Allentown and is absolutely worth a visit.  Check out their main site for information and a virtual tour, read their blog, or find them on Facebook.  If you've been there, tell me your favorite place at Hawk Mountain.  

This post is linked to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer. 

Pennsylvania Field Trip: Academy of Natural Sciences

Today was supposed to be our second day of homeschooling at home, doing math, English, Latin, and other (possibly more) interesting stuff. But we ended up having a field trip instead. Or, actually, in addition.

Early this morning I discovered that I was going to have to make a trip to downtown Philadelphia for a short but important errand. I do not like going downtown. But as I googled my route I noticed that I was going to be six blocks from a museum my kids have been wanting to visit for just about the entire three years we've lived here. So, I had to decide: leave the kids on their own for a couple of hours to do their math and other tablework without getting distracted or into a fight, or take them to the museum? Which would you pick?

Isn't this little guy cute?

The Academy of Natural Sciences is in the museum area of Philadelphia, near the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  It is a pretty nice area of town, as big old cities go.    It's full of dinosaur skeletons, from my little friend above, to a giant T. Rex.  There is an area for little scientists to have a go at digging for fossils.  My kids are too old for that now.  I can't say I miss it.

Isn't the cut-away of the nautilus just stunning?  I'd like to hang that on my Christmas tree.

Snail shells.

Among the permanent exhibits are wildlife dioramas, the "outside in" children's area, and a butterfly house.

It was hot and humid in there, but worth it to see so many butterflies up close.

There are also temporary exhibits, Scout programs, a cafe, and a gift shop. I'm happy to say that my kids did not ask me to buy anything for them while we were there. Between the admission (butterflies are a few dollars extra) and the parking (parking in Philadelphia is just never cheap) they knew it was an expensive day.  But the museum is not overpriced.

And they thanked me for taking them! We ate our peanut butter sandwiches and graham crackers on the way home.  And when we got home they did as much work as they could squeeze in before soccer practice and dinner.

This is a nice museum. It reminded me of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences from my youth, but is nowhere as extensive in size or variety of exhibits. Still, it is a good way to spend a few hours and my kids learned a few things, in particular at the temporary "Creatures of the Abyss."  But go quickly if you want to see that; it's moving next week.  

Pennsylvania Field Trip: Morris Arboretum

The Morris Arboretum in the suburbs of Philadelphia is a great place for a homeschool field trip. It is 92 acres of cultivated gardens, historic structures, wetland areas, a creek. A former estate, it is now run by the University of Pennsylvania.

There are 13,000 labeled plants: trees, shrubs, flowers. There is a rose garden, an herb garden, a fernery (a wonderful place to stop to warm up on a cold winter day), a Japanese overlook, and many other beautiful spaces.

It is a wonderful place for drawing, photographing, identifying plants, watching insects, listening to birds.

You can get ideas for plantings in your own garden.

This is a Bald Cypress tree. I'd never seen cones like that!

This is the "Summer Palace," a structure fashioned of branches. It was installed last year and will stay in place until the weather removes it. Click to enlarge for the full effect.

There are secluded spots for sitting and resting, or reading - silently or aloud.

I didn't get a picture of the "Out on a Limb" exhibit which is a wonderful spot for kids. They can get up in the trees, sit in a birds' nest, climb like a squirrel. Or the Garden Railway, which we visit every summer. They have classes, concerts, and other special events for families. Signs and activities around the gardens add to the educational value of the visit.Visit their site or their blog for more information.

If you are going to be in the Philadelphia area, it is worth a visit. If you live here, go soon!

Why camp counts in my homeschool

August is the big camp month around here. This summer my kids have each been to one sleep-away camp, have a soccer day camp next week, and are helping out at our upcoming church Vacation Bible School. I always count camps as school time for them. Some people disagree with this idea. After all, school kids go to camp too, and it doesn't count for them. Somehow it seems unfair to count camp days in my required (here in Pennsylvania) 180 days. Camp is fun! It's not school.

But here are some of the things my kids did or will do in camp this summer:

Swam, hiked, played sports.

Perform community service. Our local school district requires 20 hours per school year. My kids will get 20 hours in one week. (Service at a church counts.)

Help teach and care for younger kids.

Acquired emergency preparedness skills such as: evacuating an injured hiker, mobilizing a group to help in a disaster, attracting and communicating with a search and rescue plane.

Learned how properly to start and put out a fire. (Including, in one case, a large bonfire.)

Acquired skills in leading a group of peers.

Worked in teams to improve the camp.

Worked in teams to do daily chores around the camp, including kitchen and bathroom cleanup; set duty rosters and followed up to be sure work was done.

Learned about nature: local animals and plants.

Learned how to track animals and humans through the woods.

Did arts and crafts.

Engaged in healthy competitions, separate from sports events.

Developed problem-solving skills.

Learned how to deal with a peer who is violating a camp rule.

Learned a little cooking.


And don't forget socialization!

Some of these things are easy to compartmentalize into school subjects, others not so much. But they are all things kids have to learn somehow, someday. OK, maybe not the animal and human tracking. But it's an interesting skill, anyway, and who knows if one of my kids is going to become an FBI agent? Remember, it doesn't matter how or where these skills are learned, at camp or at school or at home. It's the learning that matters. So I happily count these days as part of our academic year.

What did your kids learn on summer vacation?

Summer plans

Yes, it's mid-July so a little late to be detailing summer plans. It's been so busy around here it hasn't seemed like vacation too much - except for the brief family reunion trip that combined 30 hours of driving with about 20 of actual family fun time. Usually I am starting up our academic year now, but so far I have only been able to record a few days. But there are some summer things I'd still like to do:

Camps:

My girl leaves for Girl Scout camp today! She is excited and a little nervous. It's not her first time away at camp, but it's her first where she won't know anyone at all going in.

My boy goes to Boy Scout camp next month. He's working feverishly (well, not really) on his Rifle Shooting Merit Badge requirements so he can do some shooting at camp.

Then there's soccer day camp for both. And a Vacation Bible School that we are all helping with. Why, exactly, did I agree to take on the preschool class?

By the way, all these camps count as school days. The kids will be learning skills and, of course, getting socialized.

Mom and Dad don't get to go to camp this year, except for one night at the end of Boy Scout camp to enjoy dinner, a huge bonfire, awards, and the (groan) skits.

Sewing:

Any sewing I get to do is usually of the maintenance or emergency variety: a pair of fleece pants for winter camp, or taking down the hem of an outgrown pair of trousers. This summer I want to make at least one tote bag, a dress for my girl, a skirt for myself, and I'd like to finish the two quilted wall hangings we started last fall.

Reading:

Most people wouldn't know I like to read because I do so little of it. So this summer I want to spend more time in books. I need to get my daily Bible reading back on track; some days I only read a snippet or none at all. At this stage of my life I'm not aiming at completing the Bible in a year, but I do believe in systematic reading and I'm not doing so well at it. I also want to read The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory, Praying Backwards by Brian Chapell (a re-read and one of the best books on prayer I've read), something by Dorothy Sayers, and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West, a book that's been on my shelf for years and years but rarely touched, except to move it from shelf to moving box and back again. I opened it this morning and couldn't stand to put it down, and that was just the prologue.

That's a pretty modest list for a whole summer but it is the middle of July now. I also want to read some hammock books, which are like beach books for those of us who aren't going to the beach. And Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is over 1100 pages...

Other stuff:

When the kids aren't at camp, I want to take weekly trips to the pool (either the YMCA, of which the kids are members, or our little township pool), to a garden or nature park for drawing and observing (Mill Grove, John James Audubon's house is on the short list for this), and to a significant Pennsylvania historic place. We've still never been to Independence Hall or the National Constitution Center, which we'd better get going to right away as there is an exhibit relevant to our upcoming history studies ending on August 1. Other than the pool, these are things we should be doing weekly all year long, not just in summer.

My plans don't usually work out very smoothly - something always pops up - but it's good to have a plan anyway. At least there's the potential for success!

Counting days or hours?

Here in Pennsylvania, homeschoolers are required to document time spent on educational activities. We need 180 school days, or 900 hours (990 for 7th grade up). Because of the way my family lives and homeschools, it's really hard sometimes to determine if we've had a full day of school. Every single day has some educational time in it, but maybe not the 5 or 5.5 hours required by law. A day spent mostly at home at the kitchen table doing bookwork is easy; so is a day at a museum. But what about a day where we don't really sit down and do schoolwork but spend time playing piano, drawing flowers at the arboretum, reading encyclopedias for fun, and working on Scout merit badges? We can't walk around with stopwatches, taking care to click when we are doing something educational, and click again when we stop.

This is why I think tracking days or hours is silly. It doesn't work for most homeschool families. But, there's that law. I don't guess it really works all that well in school either; if 5 hours are required why are school days 6 or 7 hours long? There has to be a way to account for all the empty time. And note that the law just says "educational activities" but nothing about learning. Of course no one, not even the State, can force people to learn.

Some people just assume their kids get the educational hours every year just by existing (and reading and studying and doing stuff). They don't want to be bothered with figuring out school days and what counts and what doesn't. I agree with them, but I can't document it that way. I can't take a 180-square grid and just put every date in there till it's full. I tried it once, but I just couldn't do it; it felt sneaky to me. (That says more about me than it does about people who count this way, I think.)

On the other hand, I once knew a mother of four who counted hours. She was driving herself crazy - she admitted it - and hated homeschooling because of it. But she said she didn't know of a better way to be accurate. I am already too far down the road to insanity to want to add pressure to that accelerator. Still, it is appealing, in some ways.

One year I did as a friend of mine does: she counts any day that includes math, reasoning that if her kids did math, they also did other educational activities, and that even if they didn't, it would even out over time. That's fine, but we do sometimes have days where all I require is math. I wouldn't want to count a day in which the kids did a math lesson and then played Xbox car racing the rest of the day. OK, that's never happened, but it could.

So I thought this year I would track hours, despite the possibility of insanity. That way if someone spent, say, 1/2 an hour at a piano lesson and an hour at the gym, but didn't really do much else that seemed, well, educational enough (gah!), I'd log 1.5 hours. I tried that for 3 days. That didn't work either. The line between educational activities and regular life is just too blurry.

So once again I am in a quandary. I will just have to look at each day and take it on its own merits. "Real" school days - days where we sit down and do math and read history together - will be easy. But on other days, days with lots of reading, music, gym time, project work, cooking, and maybe a little math and some composition (Scout merit badges require some written work, and I love them for that), I'll just have to watch my kids and determine at the end of the day if it I can count it as half or full.

Silly.

The Mercer Museum, Doylestown, PA

Ever since we moved here in 2007, I've been hearing about the Mercer Museum. It's on the homeschooler's list of must-do field trips, though we never managed to actually find or arrange a group field trip. I finally took my kid to see it last week, in celebration of the beginning of our 2010/2011 academic year.

Henry Chapman Mercer was a tile collector and tile maker, among other things. His interest in history and archaeology and his involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries prompted his desire "to collect and preserve the outmoded material of daily life in America before it was swept away by the Industrial Revolution."

And preserve he did. This museum is unbelievable. It has - everything. Tools, kitchen implements, boats and coaches, a gallows, guns, whaling equipment, a cider press, spinning and sewing tools... seriously, if it's old, it's here.



Parts of a tollbooth!















And a toll sign.












A whaling boat. I know we're supposed to hate whaling and all, but why do whaling boats seem so beautiful?








If it looks like stuff is hanging, that's because it is. The museum is 6 mezzanine floors, with a big space in the middle - not empty, but hung with large items. The walls are lined with little rooms containing smaller displays. The pharmacy display was really interesting, but there was too much glare for the photo. (All photos taken by my girl, by the way, with her Christmas gift camera.)





Diving equipment. I am not sure what that white thing on the right is. My kids said it was some part of a fish but they couldn't remember what. Not a spine. Some things were not marked. Maybe we should have known. I love those old diving helmets.













Guns and powder horns. Lots of guns and other weaponry here. Also handcuffs and other police equipment. We were stunned by the gallows. It was too big to photograph. Creepy yet fascinating.



























There were a lot of kitchen displays. My photographer really loved the chick chocolate mold. I have a feeling chocolate molding is in our future. Oh, there were laundry items too, including a mangle.

If you live in or near southeastern Pennsylvania, or are planning a trip to the area, you need to come here. We could have spent hours. We will come back with Dad and spend hours.

There are two other Mercer-related museums, Fonthill (Mercer's home) and the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works. We visited Fonthill (more on that later) but have not seen the tile works yet. Soon!

For homeschooling purposes, this covered Pennsylvania history and science. (Do you know how turpentine was made? We do now.) If we'd taken sketchbooks we could have included art, though I guess the photography counts too. But even if we weren't looking for educational activities to count for the state, we'd love this place.

Homeschool Hi-Light: Evaluation complete!

My Homeschool Hi-Light for this week is easy:

We got our homeschool evaluation done!

Pennsylvania has a tough homeschooling law. One requirement is the evaluation, wherein a certified teacher reviews work the child has done throughout the school year, talks with the child about it, and reviews books/materials used. I'd heard horror stories about evaluators who were not homeschooling-friendly (why were they doing it, then?) so when we moved here I started looking for an evaluator right away.

She came to me via our homeschool group, of which she is a member. A former elementary teacher, she keeps up her credential as she homeschools her own kids.

It turned out to be a fun experience for my kids. First off, she is a very kind, gentle, soft-spoken soul - so unlike me. My kids enjoy her greatly. My daughter paid her a compliment: "she seems like the kind of person who will be interested in anything a kid does." And she was right.

Ms. Eval looked through the book lists we'd made and asked a few questions about books - and took some titles down for her own homeschool. She noted my daughter's standardized test scores and list of places we visited. She went through their portfolios (which have to be submitted to the school district) to see their work samples.

Then she handed me the forms that assure the school district that my kids have received an appropriate education.

Aaahhhh! My first evaluation, and I guess I passed. Now, I need to finish logging our 180 days - 10 days to go! - and be ready to submit our portfolio by June 30. I'll get a few more books listed before then. The school district could find something lacking in the portfolios, but I doubt it.

I must admit that the process wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Coming from Oregon, a very homeschool-friendly state with few requirements, I found Pennsylvania's law very daunting. Now I have confidence to carry on for the next "school year."

Finding new confidence is always a hilight for me! Go to Fun Learning for more.