I actually had time to listen to a couple of podcasts last weekend. Both were hosted by Pam Barnhill at Edsnapshots. On Homeschool Snapshots Pam interviewed Jane Lambert, author of Five in a Row, which really intrigued me since it's a program I'm considering for Levi in the fall. On Your Morning Basket, Pam interviewed Kate Snow on Making Math Enjoyable. I've also been snooping around Kate's Homeschool Math blog and there are several articles of interest.
In addition, I listened to RAR #46: Assigned Versus Free Reading. I haven't been there in a while because I was a little turned off by all the commercialization. However, I do enjoy the podcasts and this one between Sarah and Mystie Winckler did not disappoint. Something that came to mind while listening was as a parent, rather than assigning reading, should we be acting as more of a facilitator, sort of like a librarian, rather than a teacher? This idea of mentoring our children has been on my mind since The Great Homeschool Convention. I'd be interested to hear what you all think.
Do you know about the Book It program through Pizza Hut? It's a reading incentive program for kindergarten through 6th graders. We've participated for several years and it's fabulous!
I love Martin Cothran's Ten Great Christian Books list! Of course, since I'm currently reading Anna Karenina with a Schole group, I'm into all things Tolstoy ;-) If you haven't read classic literature, I would encourage you to give it a try. Find a friend and read together. It's really not as daunting as it may seem.
And here is Riley's latest project. The Farmer bought some Holstein calves that she's raising. It began with bottle feeding, but earlier this week, they were put out in the old sheep pen. She's still bottle feeding one, but the other three are weaned. She also gets a little help from Ruben, who likes to haul hay on his 3-wheeler..
I was just downloading podcasts today because I've been out the loop for a good long time on the podcast scene (commercialization turned me off too!). I've gathered Read Aloud Revival, Your Morning Basket, The Homeschool Snapshot, and The Homeschool Solutions Show. I also love the archived podcasts Julie Bogart did (A Brave Writer's Life in Brief). I have been wanting to have something to listen to during some of my food prep time or chores when I'm wanting to work alone without kids.
ReplyDeleteHave you looked at scopes at all? I participated in scoping for a month or so and it just got too crazy for me. I was trying to catch scopes when I needed to be homeschooling, I was doing my own scopes, and the FB community I was part of for it was insanely active so I felt like I could never keep up. I deleted it all and it's been a peaceful time since. Julie Bogart has been moving her past scopes to YouTube now that Katch closed down (where they were archived). SO I'm watching one of those occasionally.
We've been working out the kids' assigned literature lists for next year. I like having assigned lit that I know they would not likely pick up on their own but I'm sure they'll love or that it will provide some great discussion time for us. :)
Hey Tristan,
ReplyDeleteI've not listened to any Julie Bogart podcasts or scopes. I'll have to check into them. I have watched a few scopes, but all replays since I'm not on Periscope or FB as a member. I'm kind of a dinosaur when it comes to those things. I like blogging, but its really the only form of social media that I use, other than a few homeschool forums and Yahoo Groups.
I also assign a little literature, for example, lit aligned with our book club or AO books. I actually do read most of them aloud so I can participate in the story as well, but the kids have read assigned books independently. I asked Riley her thoughts about it the other day and she didn't feel assigned reading was going to turn her off in any way from being a lifetime bookworm. It was an interesting discussion.
Hope all is well with you and your family,
Melissa