Research Projects: Preliminary Outline

Once you pick a topic, the first thing you need is an outline.... a road map for your paper. This first outline is your preliminary outline. Easy on the details... HEAVY on the organization.

A couple of points:

*Roman Numerals... then capital letters... don't need to go any farther than that right now.

*K.I.S.S. - keep it simple silly.... we're using just a few words for each point... really just skimming the top of the subjects

*it's a good idea to do this one in pencil so you can make changes as you research (but I'm too in love with blue ink to use pencil 😉)

Research Projects: Plan It!

It's research project time! Yesterday we started with planning our projects. Our first task was narrowing down a topic.

I gave them 3 large index cards. Two of the cards had a topic on the front. I gave them a few minutes to jot down as much as they knew about those topics on the back of the card. This was our brainstorming.

Then we talked about the three types of sources they would need to have:

-book

-magazine/newspaper

-Internet

Finally we talked about needing a topic that was not too broad or too narrow, and a topic that they knew enough about to start, but also one they would like to know more about.

Assignment for tomorrow:

*choose and brainstorm a 3rd topic

*think about sources

*rank your topic cards 

Lessons from a homeschool graduation

Even though I am a teacher by training, this journey called homeschooling has been FRAUGHT with worry... self-doubt... and fear. I worry constantly if I'm giving my kids a good enough education. I worry if they will get in to college. I wonder if I'm making a huge mistake. And I do worry about that QUINTESSENTIAL homeschooling dilemma: will they be properly equipped to socialize with other people. These students were my most important students. My success or failure with these ones mattered the most.

Yesterday was Noah's last day. He graduated! by homeschooling... and I realized.... this child is PERFECTLY equipped for the future he has chosen. For the future that has been his desire since he was 10 years old. He is perfectly ready to "yes sir" and push up and salute his way through basic training. He is ready to SERVE this country in an honorable and dedicated manner. I know in my heart this child will be a BEAST in the Army. And guess what??? God knew all along that this was his next step.  When I was worrying and wondering about ACTs, portfolios, admissions interviews.... God was sitting there whispering "trust me"... because none of those things were THIS child's future. He aced his ASVAB. He is KILLING his physical fitness requirements. He is dotting every i and crossing every t the Army puts in front of him.

I think my biggest takeaway from the past year is the fact that it was OK that I didn't know the end game because God did. I didn't have to worry about college or SATs or even careers. My job was to obey God. He told me to homeschool these children. I just needed to be as faithful as possible in the teaching and loving and every day molding and then leave the outcome in His hands.  I knew this... but now I really KNOW this.

Mommas out there... homeschoolers... will you TRY to believe me... every changed diaper... wiped nose... sticky kiss... learned math fact... memorized Bible verse... they matter... do them faithfully, but let God worry about orchestrating all those things into an amazing human being. Also will someone please remind me of this with the next three???

Confessions of a homeschooling failure.....

I cry nearly EVERY, SINGLE day of homeschooling. I'm not lying. I'm not exaggerating. This is the SINGLE most DIFFICULT thing I have ever done. Juggling a job, a sick husband, caring for an old lady all while trying to homeschool 4 children... it breaks me EACH and EVERY day.  Somewhere around the 17th, "Mom can I skip number ____?" and the 14th, "Hannah is sitting at MY desk!" I fall apart... a hot, mad mess of tears and snot (can you guess that's exactly the posture from which I am writing THIS blog?) Many days this happens WELL before noon, and more often than not it is accompanied or more likely preceded by my very best "YOU WON'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY" impression of The Hulk.

Most sane people would ask, then WHY do you do it? WHY do you put yourself through constantly feeling like a failure? WHY do you deal with the never-ending worry that you are missing some component of your children's education? WHY do you open yourself up to the frequent criticism of others who believe in "real school"?  WHY do you FIGHT and CRY and SCRATCH and CLAW your way through each and every difficult day?

The only answer I have:

BECAUSE IT IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE TEAR!

1. I honestly LIKE the people my children are becoming because they are homeschooled. They are kind, empathetic, interested in others and becoming quite WELL equipped to interact in this world.

2. I love that my children are learning while keeping a DEEP interest in learning. One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is that it doesn't deaden my children to the wonder of learning. They become the kind of people who WANT to know how to spell things correctly or what is the right way to use this word or that word. They are EAGER to learn new things which is NOT the same as being EAGER to do their lesson (I'm starting to preach to myself here:  Jami!  Do not DESPAIR that they don't WANT to do 36 math problems! Their desire to LEARN is more important than that!)

So now that the veil is off and this post is revealed for what it really is:  a desperate attempt to get myself back on track after a meltdown that found me with my forehead plastered to my desk calendar.... I'm going to lift up my head, brush off that paper clip stuck to my forehead and give a little cheer for all of us homeschooling failures out there:

*You can DO this!
*Even when you're failing a little you're succeeding at SO much!
*This most difficult thing you've ever done is the BEST thing you will EVER do!
*Now get your head off your desk calendar and get back to HOMESCHOOLING!  

(That's what I'm going to do.)

Summer... Summer... Summertime....

As previously confessed here on this blog, we do NOT take a real summer break. In Mrs. Kastner's Klass we just keep plugging along almost ALL summer, occasionally taking a few weeks off in August. "Sooooooo," you might ask, "what do you DO all summer then?"

Math

1. Math: We finish our math curriculum. Some homeschoolers just get through as much of the book as they can in a school year. I (the QUINTESSENTIAL penny-pincher) prefer to work cover-to-cover, getting EVERY cent out of the curriculum I purchased. So we finish our math books. Often I allow them to take off on their own working at their own pace once summer comes. (Noah POUNDS it trying to finish because he knows that means more time to play Xbox once he finishes Math. Jeremiah just takes his time. Elijah has to be forcibly encouraged to do ANYTHING even Math which he is GREAT at.) Once they are done with their Math books that is one less school task they have to complete each day (until fall comes and bring a brand new book... hee hee hee!). 

Reading

2. Reading: We always have to keep on reading.  This year I started a summer reading program. I gave the older two boys a "Summer Reading List" filled with classic books I had recently stocked my library with (from the $1 section at Target!  OHHHHH do I get GREAT deals there!).  They both just finished Oliver Twist and are now independently taking on The Jungle Book (Noah) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Jeremiah). I gave Elijah and Hannah blank lists to fill in a specified number of books they read this summer. I will admit that I had to offer a monetary reward (well actually it is Gamestop $$$ for the boys and Barbie $$$ for the princess), but for the FIRST time ever, I have caught BOTH of my older boys doing the Jami/Jodi (walking around the house while still reading a book). I welled up with a tear in my good eye!

Fun Fonix

3. Mechanics: This is what I call the bare bones things they need to keep up on in the summer. All my kids pretty much ROCK at math; therefore, this is typically something in the language arts family. (The irony of this fact is NOT lost on me.... the former Grammar Teacher with the English minor.... but my boys just do NOT enjoy reading, spelling, grammar, etc... *sigh*) This summer Noah and Jeremiah are pounding away at some spelling while Elijah and Hannah are doing some phonics work.


4. Bible: We never stop teaching the Word either. We are currently reviewing several passages of scripture we have memorized over the past few years while we take a walk through the Bible. In fact last week, I found a GREAT book for this purpose.... before we were just kinda doing it on our own... this book helped us get a framework to work from.

5. Martial Arts: John is still working to start his Christian Martial Arts ministry Rising Sons Martial Arts. He is using a form of Martial Arts called, Christjitsu. Our 4 kiddos and 1 neighbor kid are his cornerstones. They haven't done Christjitsu since before we went to Georgia as they train outdoors and the heat has been pretty dangerous lately, but typically they do Christjitsu 2x per week.


6. FUN STUFF: We keep on learning through fun stuff in the summer too. Our trip to Georgia to see my brother graduate from basic training was FILLED with learning adventures:  


*first airplane ride for Elijah & Hannah
*first terminal train and monorail ride for many 
*first getting separated in the airport and watching mommy BREAKDOWN in front of tons of people as well
*the graduation ceremony was CHOCK FULL of history and instruction

Tanisha & Dustin took the kids to the Zoo. 

We are also SOON planning trips to the museum and the domes now that mommy finally got her new driver's license (worst DMV photo EVER! I'd rather go to jail then show a cop my ID!)


So anyways.... before you start feeling too bad for those poor Kastner Kids who have to go to school ALL summer long, remember that a lot of what they do in the summer is FUN too (yesterday I read on FB: reading is like dreaming with your eyes open!) and don't forget that all year long the Kastner Kids get to go to school in their pajamas!

Stay cool everybody!