Funschooling is growing up...

...and has now moved to Quark Academy!

I would be deeply honored to entertain my dear readers over at my new blog, where I hope to be a much more frequent blogger. :)

Plus, the enticement of something new never fails to excite me! :) I'm finally trying out WordPress!

You will also find almost all Funschooling posts over on the new blog but I plan to keep Funschooling active for as long as I can because many posts on the new blog will redirect here.

See you at Quark Academy!

A Pace By Any Other Name...

"Do you have your W2P?" I ask from the driver's seat as kiddo jumps onto the curb.

"Water, watch, phone...yup, I have them!" he assures me, flicking his wrist, patting his side and then turning around to show me the water bottle in his backpack pocket.

"Okay, have a good class! I'll be waiting in the parking lot when you're done."

We briefly touch fingers in goodbye before he shuts the minivan door, and I watch him walk up to the Physical Sciences building, shoulders slightly hunched from the weight of his backpack, but steps springy and confident. He likes where he is going to and it shows.

Although he has been doing this for two semesters now, I still smile wistfully at my 12-year-old's receding back before turning into the parking lot to find a spot where I will spend the next 90 minutes reading a novel, answering emails, researching new books and/or planning what to cook for dinner while he attends his engineering physics lecture at the community college.

Thinking aloud about blogging...

I feel like I need to be doing something more with this blog. But what?

I used to include a lot of details about what we were doing in the younger years. Then, I started feeling like I was revealing too much about our homeschool and home-life journey. I love having blog readers but I also am an intensely private person. I have trouble trusting channels like Facebook, even with the privacy settings on. So I am no longer on FB. This feeling has intensified over the years into blogging as well. Who exactly am I afraid of? What exactly am I afraid of? That someone will think I write crap in a crap way? That someone will think I am saying too much about something not interesting anyway? That I myself will regret every single word I write?

To be honest, some of the things I write online, not only here but in homeschool forums in general, really do keep me awake at night! I am always tempted to go back and delete everything I write.

I used to love researching curriculum and books, so that was once my preferred blog fodder apart from the things kiddo did. But how much can you write about curriculum, especially when you don't agree with a lot of the stuff sold out there?

Kiddo is older, doing a number of wonderful things...and I feel shy/scared/second-guessy about sharing them online. I think I worry most about sounding braggy.  I normally set out to report what happens factually...but upon re-reading it, I feel like I have revealed too much. I am becoming more and more careful about sharing things that when he is older, he might not appreciate me sharing, although he seems to have absolutely no worries about it right now.

If you are reading this and are an occasional or frequent visitor, could you let me know what attracts you to my blog? I'd like to blog more. I really do enjoy it. But I think I need some encouragement too.

Using Weebly To Centralize Learning Links

Last summer, I wrote about organizing assignments with a blog. We like to follow different "tides" in our learning pattern and the blog became a little stifling when we felt unschoolish. From an assignment space, the blog morphed into another link-collecting space. Since I already have funschooling to park links, as well as the free, online bookmarking site Diigo to categorize links for online games, I ended up with long lists of unused links. Well-categorized, true, but still too much clutter!

Since late winter, I have been playing around with a different tool. I started compiling only the links kiddo uses most often, both for online classes and for fun, into a Weebly site. Of course, a blog will still work for this purpose. Weebly just makes it easier with its free, drag-and-drop widget-based interface. Most important, kiddo seems to prefer this to the blog. He just clicks on the site's icon (he bookmarked it on his browser's horizontal navigation bar) and now has visually clean, quick access to all his classes and preferred links.

How I created the site:

1. I signed up for a free account at Weebly. 
2. I personalized my chosen template with kiddo's photo instead of the standard stock photo. 
3. One can include a website name. The standard domain name, unless upgraded, is yoursite.weebly.com
4. I made pages for the main subject areas we like to learn.
5. I added sub-pages to each page. Pages automatically turn into drop down menus when sub-pages are added. A sub-page can be an actual page on the site or a link to another site. So far, I haven't encountered a limit to the number of sub-pages allowed in the free account plan.
6. Below kiddo's photo, I included an at-a-glance, simple schedule of subjects using the text/ paragraph widget. You may separate the paragraphs as I have done into multiple columns (I chose 5 for the 5 weekdays). This schedule provides structure on the days that he wants it, and may also be changed easily, just like how you would edit any text box. Where possible, I also added links in the text.
7. Below Friday, I added a button to remind us to check out Coursera's offerings and sign up for any new ones that catch our eye.

We have been using this site for a few months now and we really like it.

Another benefit I see to this is that I can save every schedule in a separate page to keep a "record" of what he learned each year and how he learned it. It could be a convenient, quick-glance list vs. the longer blog records that require a few days' worth of writing, editing, and photo-compiling. After saving the record for the previous year, I can update the site with new links and schedule for the next year.

Spring Is Here Again!

Stepping briefly out of my self-imposed time off to wish you all a happy spring.

Spring is my favorite season, followed closely by fall. Spring gives me a literal spring in my step. It's a time of healing and joy and all things bright and beautiful for very visual ol' me. I love the colors of spring. How everything pops with vibrancy, squealing for attention (look at me, look at me!), begging to be admired. I love the hummingbirds buzzing around in our backyard. The glint of sunlight sparkling off the water in our outdoor fountain. The rich emerald green of the grass. Shadows traced from our various shade structures and yard furniture. Everything seems fresher somehow.

This year, I'm so happy about our blood orange harvest. And I'm so glad my favorite grocer is selling red, ripe mangoes again. I'm happy for the books dotting our tables and carpet and the games kiddo is rediscovering.

I cleaned out his drawers some time back and put all his little toys he used to play with when younger in a hurricane jar (I call it his jar of curiosities). He is having fun playing with his Boggle hour glass and whistle and top, tangram, geoboards and other toys again.

I was also inspired by spring to change the blog's look a little. I hope you like the new header. I wanted something very simple this time. Kiddo says the banner only represents us if you think of it as a metaphor. LOL, pure honesty from the mouth of babes.

I'm not as much of a green thumb as the blog banner suggests. Neither does his Dad come home bearing boxes of books but if you look at it symbolically, it is the truth in its own way. :)

Nothing hidden about this photo (except parts of his textbook and notebook but that was not intentional lol). After a particularly difficult few sections in math, he is flashing happy smiles again. So in a sense, I also want to celebrate the fact that he was persistent enough to work on the problems, despite the frustration.

Back to my break now. Happy Spring everyone!

ETA: Header has been changed again. Now you know what I like to do during blogging breaks. :)

Time for a Break

I am taking a much-needed break from online pursuits. So you may not see me online for a bit, dear reader.

The break will include reading, reading, reading and continuing to practice the Downton Abbey theme as well as replanting some of our containers and trying more curve stitching. I'm very eager to sink my teeth into well-written fiction and a bunch of parenting Kindle books as well as anything else that catches my fancy. :)

My current reading list (thanks to P for suggesting the Five Love Languages of Children!):

If you have suggestions, I'd love them. I particularly love well-written, coming-of-age tales or young adult fiction, science titles and helpful parenting books. :)

ETA: Other planned activities:
Watching Netflix! I've been wanting to catch up on films about musicians...perhaps, now I will have my chance. Some videos on queue:
They Came To Play
The Drummer
The Overture
For Once In My Life

A Whole Lotta Writing Going On

I never thought I'd be saying this but the kiddo is enjoying blogging very much these days. Oh I know it's just a passing fancy. Totally not kidding myself there. But I'm so glad it's happening and trying so hard not to look like I think it's a big deal. Why? Well, the quickest way around here to bring a passing fancy to an end is to make a big deal out of it!

I started his blog for him when he was five. We called it The Amazing Adventures of Lightning Dash because he really loved the character Dash from The Incredibles. I would ask him if he wanted to say anything and he'd dictate it to me and I'd type the post for him. We'd choose images together but I'd do all the other stuff, the copying, pasting, publishing etc. For a while, it was a wonderful novelty for him to know that something he'd learned about and dictated to me was on the world wide web for everyone to see. Then, the novelty wore off. Although we updated it now and then, we basically let the blog die for a while.

Last year, I suggested he write reviews for some of the books he reads. I gave him a choice to either hand-write them (which I knew wouldn't be completed) or to dictate them to me and I'd write them for him. After some discussion, we decided to try to resurrect the blog for book reviews. He seemed keen for a bit but it was obviously an effort. He might type a line or two but would often be frustrated by the slow pace. Instead of forcing him to go on, I volunteered again to be his scribe. It did upset me at times that he was struggling to type but I tried to be logical and remind myself that I wasn't typing when I was eight either. Over-focusing on a very frustrating activity has never been productive around here.

This year, we're trying another resurrection, under the name Math and Other Adventures. After the first two entries for the year, kiddo decided he wanted to type his own posts (Wooooohoooo!) and has been doing so every few days now. Of all things, he is motivated by his Google search ranking! When he first googled it, it wasn't even in the top 10. Google Math and Other Adventures now and it's there at 4th place. He wants it to be in first place. And I'd always thought this child will never be competitive. Who knew?

When I was a curriculum junkie, it pained me that we couldn't entice him to try a typing curriculum. That we quickly abandon every writing curriculum we begin. That we can't stick to a grammar program. I overcame the junkie bit but as a mom who likes to write, it did trouble me very much that my son hated writing.

I quickly assumed that this child will never write anything. I've despaired on many a homeschooling forum that my child is a reluctant and resistant writer.

I've wondered which teeth I'd have to pull to help him write his college application essays.

Ha! Today, he told me he really likes writing.

Never Say Never.

Bloggers' Block Continues...

This is quite likely the worst case of it that I've had so far. I believe in blogging without obligation but still, I've often felt blogging is my one true escape from the humdrum happenings of my life. Now, I don't even feel like blogging anymore. I feel as if I've talked to death about curriculum changes and new-semester planning and wondering how else to balance and challenge the kiddo's learning.

I could always talk about something other than homeschooling and book reviews, I suppose. What would you like to know dear reader? If you've been following Funschooling, what draws you to this blog? I'd love suggestions! :)

Till next time, here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend:

Kiddo learned about mulled cider and immediately
decided to make some of his own.

Happiness is a cheery set of mugs
to greet me each morning.
A lovely gift from my pal, SK. Thanks SK!

Math manipulatives are always age-appropriate in our home.

Kiddo helps clean up the yard.

Organizing Assignments with a Blog

I thought I'd explain how I use Blogger for homeschool assignment tracking and to some extent, record keeping. Blogger of course, does not give you the full flexibility of tools created especially for lesson planning or record-keeping. I've blogged before about record-keeping tools I've tried or heard of and since then, I have also attempted a trial version of Simply Charlotte Mason's $99/yr online planner. Apart from tracking and organization, these tools provide a helpful report function to print a day's, week's, month's or year's worth of work.

However, in the end, these web or software-based tools became either too expensive or too unwieldly for me to use for longer than a month or two. They didn't have the level of flexibility I wanted so I switched to pen and paper record-keeping with a planner.

Lately, thanks to a post by Tracey at Leaners at Home, I have started a private blog to "suggest" (because I don't "direct" anymore) learning trails to the kiddo as well as to help him keep track of his daily routine (e.g. piano practice) and assignments due for his online classes.

Of course, my FunSchooling blog continues to be a major record-keeping resource for me. But I don't envision it to be suitable for listing assignments. Therefore, our new private assignment blog was born. The blog has been a fabulously helpful, visual tool for kiddo not only to keep track of his assignments but also his favorite links. Every month, just before we meet with our charter school education specialist, I'd quickly look through a month's worth of recorded work. This helps me prepare a simple report for her using a one- or two-page Microsoft Word document.

This is a snapshot of what our assignment blog looked like the last few months of Year 3.



If you're curious or wish to start one of your own, here's one way to do it. Please note that if you already have a Blogger account, you can simply sign in, and from your dashboard, click on the Create a Blog link. If you don't have a Blogger account, signing up is free. WordPress, TypePad etc users may want to adapt these steps according to blogging platform of choice.

Step 1: Create a new blog, choose your prefered template (you can tweak it later, see Step 3), choose a blog ID/URL.

Step 2: If you look at my example above, I wanted a template similar to FunSchooling's. So I went to the Dashboard and under my new blog's name, clicked on Design.

Step 3: Under the Design tab, I chose Template Designer. I played around with the Templates, Background, Adjust Widths, Layout and Advanced tabs until I got a look similar to FunSchooling's.

Step 4: Some of you may want to explore using free blog backgrounds. Hot Biggity Blog is one that comes to mind.

Step 5: Once you have a look you like (in my case it was one main body in the middle and one sidebar on the right and three footer columns), click on Apply To Blog and save it.

Step 6: To make assignment planning easy, go to the Settings tab and click Formatting to create a Post Template.

Step 7: As seen above, scroll down to Post Template. List all (yes, every single one) of the materials you've planned for your child to use. I'll explain why below. Since we are often semi-unschoolers, I also listed some of the most frequent delight-directed materials he likes e.g. his favorite historical fiction of the month, his favorite puzzle books etc. You can make the list as simple or as complicated as you want. And you might revisit this step often as your child completes materials and you add new ones. If you are a HTML pro, add your line break etc tags here. Otherwise, see next step. Don't forget to Save Settings.

Step 8: Now go to the Posting tab and click on New Post. If you've saved your Post Template in Step 7, your new post should auto-list everything you typed into the Post Template box. However, it will look a little run-on like this (unless you're a HTML pro!):

To keep it clean and easy to read, you may want to use bullets or a numbered list. So...

Step 9: Reformat the post box so that all your text looks neat and tidy, each resource or assignment in its own line. Next, highlight all the text and click on the numbered list icon (three lines with 1, 2, 3 next to them) as seen on the left. Check to see that everything looks okay.

As seen on the right, click on the Edit HTML tab (top right of post). Highlight all text and right-click to copy. Press Save Now (unless you intend to publish the post as it is). Saving will help ensure you don't have to repeat this step if you make a mistake or your computer hangs etc.

Step 10: Go back to Settings/ Formatting/ Post Template. Highlight everything in the Post Template box to delete, then right-click and choose Paste to paste the copied text with the HTML tags. Don't forget to Save Settings.

Step 11: Return to the Posting tab and choose Edit Posts. Delete the saved draft from Step 9. (Skip this step if you prefer to keep the draft).

Step 12: Click on New Post. It should show a much neater, run-on free, numbered list of materials/ assignments.

Now you'll see why it's easier to list everything. I use the day of the week for the title and the year of study as the label. I then delete all the materials that I don't think we'll use for that particular day, leaving only the materials or classes we *will* use. Easy-peasy! This helps you avoid all that typing every single day! Deleting all the unwanted text is so much easier than typing it all over and over again.

Step 13: You may want to add specific instructions now to the remaining assignments. E.g. things like "Read pp X - Y" or "Do 30 minutes of A" etc. Click on Publish and then View Post.

Step 14: Place the link to your assignment blog's URL strategically on your desktop or somewhere easy for the child to access.

Step 15: For the sidebars, simply go back to the Design tab. Choose Add a Gadget. Scroll down to Link List or Text or the relevant gadget to the sidebar space. Start placing links. Now your child will have all the links handy for his or her lessons in one place and right next to the day's assignment post too.

Step 16: Every morning (or if you're able to, a week in advance), prepare a day's (or week's) worth of posts, click on Post Options/ Scheduled at and select when you want the post to publish.


If like me you prefer to keep this blog private, go to Settings/ Permissions. Under the heading Blog Readers, choose the radio button next to Only blog authors. Click the orange button that appears to save your settings.

Be sure to explore other gadgets (like the Search box) that Blogger offers as well. There are also widgets like Library Thing, Shelfari etc that you can use as you would with your usual homeschooling or personal blog. You'll need to find the HTML/Javascript codes and use the add HTML/Javascript gadget for these.

Do be aware that this idea may not be your cup of tea if a specific homeschool record-keeping tool already works well for you. The reason this works extremely efficiently for us is that it's free (hooray!) and because I have the flexibility to park all of our most-used links within the same interface. I also like changing plans at the drop of a hat and tend to be more and more delight-directed as kiddo grows older and more aware of what he wants and doesn't want to do. I found record-keeping software more rigid for this purpose. I can also see this method working beautifully for very structured homeschoolers because of the convenience of the Post Template feature. However, if printing reports is your thing, record-keeping software may do a better job for you.

The key disadvantage I can think of is that it requires me to spend about 5-10 minutes every morning deleting unwanted resources for the day's post and then another 5 or so minutes editing it in the evening according to how much kiddo accomplished. I do forget to do this sometimes as well. But we don't do so much every day that remembering to do it a few days later is a chore.

Hope this is helpful to someone!

A Month Of Honing Life Skills

It's a little early in the month to post a monthly snapshot post I know but March has been busy so far and I strongly feel the urge to not to do anything next week so here goes.

This month, he managed to see two projects to completion. Kiddo normally doesn't complete his multitude of project ideas as I may have mentioned before. I know it's all about the process. I tell myself that a lot. But you know it's nice to see some completion once in a while. Anyway, this month, he honed some of those life skills by learning how to sell something online through Craiglist and also how to create an online survey using Survey Monkey.

The Craiglist transaction was such a fun experience. Kiddo was given a new bicycle this month as he'd very obviously outgrown the last one. He decided that he'd sell his old bike and use the money to buy a book. I showed him how Craiglist works and he researched used bike prices, typed a short description of his bike and took photos. He posted the ad and waited eagerly to see if he'd get responses. There was one slightly creepy response which we ignored but it offered a good lesson on the importance of online safety. Hubby had meanwhile sent the ad's link to colleagues who have younger kids. One of them responded with an offer. Kiddo was over the moon! He negotiated the price a bit, sealed the deal and then proceeded to create a receipt based on some samples he researched online.

Last week, he cleaned and polished the bike till it looked almost new and hubby took care of the delivery. I've already posted about how he used his earnings here.

The survey project was to gauge public response towards the MetroPCS "Ranjit and Chad" commercials on TV. Kiddo watches these commercials not out of choice but because he can't bear to miss Jeopardy at 7pm on weekdays and that's one of the spots used for these ads. In his opinion, these commercials are extremely demeaning to Indians (South Asian Indian -- I really wish someone had corrected Columbus). He finds them offensive and racist and extremely silly. Mid February, he decided to do something about it. He wanted to write to MetroPCS to ask them to stop the commercials from being aired on national TV.

We weren't sure if simply writing a letter would be useful so he decided to poll people he knows and use any supportive info he received to "beef" up his letter. I helped him brainstorm questions for the survey and he created it (quite a painless process) and we sent it out to our homeschool group and other friends. He received 107 responses!

Enthusiasm dwindled for a while to follow up on the matter and then this week, with a little ahem, "gentle" nudging, he began using the free analysis tool that Survey Monkey offers to compose his letter. He's almost done. He still feels strongly enough about it to type it himself so I am not doing much other than helping him format his information for easier reading.

Other post-worthy activities this month:


New friends at new swimming class

  

Creating a simple electromagnet from spare materials and ideas on eHow

  

Lots of improvement in typing speed and independence for projects and online classes



A quick word about the new blog look. It's Spring and I really need to see some color on this blog and in other areas of life. The old header felt too plain. Hope the new one is pleasing to your eyes! :)

Keeping A Portfolio Of Your Child's Work

Readers who know me well, repeat after me, "This is in no way an authoritative how-to".

There are many reasons for keeping a portfolio of your child's work and there are many organizations that require such things before they will provide admittance or offer some kind of scholastic benefit to your family. Perhaps you would like to apply to a special school or see if your child qualifies for summer camps or retreats with exclusive requirements. Perhaps you are compiling a homeschool "what kiddo did" scrapbook. Or perhaps you just like to be prepared because face it, you usually realize you need such things only too late.

Please keep in mind that every portfolio must be driven by a purpose. When I get immersed in projects such as these, I am usually controlled by a momentum of thought and feeling that makes the result suited specifically to that one purpose. These are just thoughts to get you started and so may not be helpful unless you have a similar purpose in mind. Also, this is a guide for submitting a portfolio of work when your child is still young, umm...let's say 6 to 9 years old. I'm guessing that a portfolio for older kids will have different needs so I'll write a post for that when I get there.

I'm writing this from my very recent experience creating an achievement portfolio for kiddo. I will try to remember to update the post if I stumble across other ideas.

KEEPING TRACK OF DEVELOPMENT



A box of memorabilia from kiddo's birth till now. His Book of Days is in the bottom right.

Helps to start early! I began keeping a record of the kiddo's development from the first weeks of his birth. Into it went the usual things: day and time of birth, measurements, overall temperament and a bunch of snapshots. His first year, I wrote what I called ______'s A Book of Days. I'd note little observations of what he did and said and what others said about him in a little journal, leaving out quite a lot of detail which in retrospect I wish I had included. But again, my purpose was to capture a brief record of his first year as a gift to him when he was older. Today, kiddo loves reading and re-reading this little book. It delights him to discover again and again the truth of his total tyrannical control over his besotted parents. Much of his second to fifth years failed to be recorded in writing due to life events and lack of time. But I faithfully updated his growth chart and took many photos of his learning milestones.

Sometime in 2008, kiddo turning six, I began keeping a little journal again. This time, the book was filled with milestones as well as observations of his interests, obsessions, inventions and so on. Developmental milestones sat side by side with a record of his rapidly developing observation/ thinking/ analyzing skills and other little achievements. I still regret not writing down enough but am thankful for what I had. Plus, I also started this blog. Both have been helpful as sources of information for an explanatory letter I am including in his achievement portfolio. Please keep in mind that I'm no scrapbooking expert and haven't thought in detail about using acid-free or archive-quality materials. So do carry out appropriate research on these if necessary.

PUTTING TOGETHER THE ACHIEVEMENT FOLIO

Don't shred without checking! When hubby cautioned me years ago to hang on to the drawings, doodlings, cipher-like codes, etc. kiddo had produced, I scoffed. I hate clutter so off everything went into a recycle bin. Besides, we were moving thousands of miles within a limited budget. How could I find room for these? Yes, I am swearing at myself now. Hard. So keep all that you can. If you don't have time, find a box for it and just dump it in there, scribble a name on the box, lest you accidentally throw it away. Keep said box somewhere close or you won't remember to use it.

Date and organize. If your obsession for being organized runs deeper than boxes, use a 2-inch binder with sheet protectors or something similar. Date your kiddo's work (you won't remember otherwise when it happened, trust me). Use one binder a year or one every six months if you have a prolific producer of amazing talent. Organize electronically if closet space is limited. Take photos, rename the file to include event and date (e.g. ExplosiveDevice031209), save it in a folder with your child's name, organize folders by year if necessary, and always back up your files (again, just trust me). I once took a video of kiddo reading aloud from his chapter book at just over three years old and was so happy I'd been able to catch him doing it. I forgot to back it up and overwrote the memory card! I didn't have another opportunity that year.

Notebooks. Don't underestimate the value of notebooks and sketchbooks. There are many affordable notebooks, graph paper books, sketchbooks etc. out there. Let your child have as many as you can afford.

What to include? When you're putting aside work for a memory book or precious storage, anything goes. But when you start compiling meaningful work for an achievement portfolio, you want to look for work that's precocious or unusual for age. You want to ensure it's handwritten/ hand-drawn by the child when possible. You want to try to remember what made your kiddo produce it. So, apart from date, try to attach a short explanatory note too. Ask your child what made her do it. Take her explanation down in dictation if necessary. Your explanatory note is basically trying to explain your child's thought processes, her ability to analyze and synthesize information. Not just the "what" but also the "how" and "why" of her creation.

Often, work like this is produced as a result of free will or is delight-directed and is rarely assigned by an adult. There are exceptions of course. One of the sheets that went into kiddo's achievement portfolio was math homework assigned by his tutor. It was of obviously different quality from work I'd assigned a semester before and I wanted that difference to show.

Here're more ideas of what could be suitable to include:

• copies of achievement test scores, standardized test scores, etc. and if you don't use such tests, perhaps chapter review tests from curricula she's completed could be helpful too
• copies of any IQ test reports you may have -- we don't have these so I may not be the best person to advice here. If in doubt, call the people who will be assessing the achievement portfolio and ask them what they need.
• depending on the situation, other anecdotes and observations you've recorded spontaneously about your child -- if you need to explain further, attach an explanatory letter. For example, frustrated about not finding suitable curricula options for my rapidly learning youngster, I'd scribbled a note to myself one day in that journal I'd started in 2008. I'd forgotten about this but when I flipped through the pages and found it, I remembered why I'd written it and felt it was ample evidence to show how challenging it has been to homeschool him.
• it bears repeating...include videos and pictures -- pictures do paint many, many words. This is also especially useful when like me you have a kiddo who hates to write and won't "perform" for a planned video. So if you have a chance to capture a moment on tape when she isn't aware of it, do it! I keep my camera just next to the sofa where he does most of his written work. And again, don't forget to date and back-up the clips.
• running list of ideas: baby milestones, comments about child from other parents, observations by school/ enrichment class teachers (if any), stories, doodles, artwork, crafts, poems, invention ideas, toys child made out of paper/ boxes/etc, puzzles created by and solved by your child, examples of handwriting and reading milestones, a list of hobbies, types of books (fiction and nonfiction) she reads, plays child has performed, songs she likes to sing and how quickly she memorized a script or lyrics, child's musical compositions. Again, I'll add to this if I have more ideas!

How much to include? This is a question only you can answer. There's only so much you can send by mail or email or interest someone long enough to explain to face-to-face. So all the more important to choose work that will grab attention and create a good first impression in the first 3 to 5 seconds of viewing it. You could perhaps consult a trusted friend to assess the portfolio before you send it. And unless you are on a strict submission deadline, it helps to spend a day or two compiling the portfolio and then taking a few days to let it "simmer" in the background. Giving yourself think-time might help you to remember to include something important you missed and help you decide if you should leave something else out.

Just as you would for a job interview, if you are submitting a portfolio, tailor the contents and your explanatory and cover letters to the situation. Keep it relevant to the purpose. And always make a copy of what you submit and keep it safe.

Good luck!

If you have experience compiling portfolios for your kids or have other ideas to contribute, please leave a comment. I'd love to learn more from you!

The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs FunSchooling

OK, I did something I obviously don't do often. And it's obviously something I should do more often, at least for the sake of writing a coherent blog.

You know that Link Within widget at the bottom of every post? Well, I clicked on one and started reading my own archives. And discovered that when I call us "eclectic" homeschoolers, we are the very embodiment of eclectic. As in not-even-sure-what-we're-doing-because-it's-just-so-darn-mixed-up-all-the-time eclectic.

Have you ever found yourself writing blog post after blog post about how you homeschool and then discovering that your blog posts have little in common with each other or contradict what you mentioned in a previous month? Sigh...I am obviously headed towards a dementia-ridden dotage. I seem to be operating so much on "what works right now" mode that there seems little continuity between one month and the next and I can't even remember how things changed.

For example, I wrote at the official beginning of our Year 3 that we pick and choose what works and that I am okay with that. And then, I wrote about a month later that the kiddo would be flying free and having more say about what we'd use, obviously indicating that some time in-between beginning and month 2, I'd made things more structured in a way he wasn't happy with.

Fast forward another 30 days: our flying free experiment was tweaked again but not all that much. But compare it to this month's snapshot. A lot more structure! The funny thing is, I don't remember how we got here or the kiddo complaining about it. Me thinks it's due to trying to learn three foreign languages at the same time. I feel a need to schedule that learning, otherwise, we don't practice enough. But he's not been resisting it. Perhaps because it's something he's enjoying?

We're really mixed up (I say 'we' because currently, I'm learning with him, as in having-my-own-notebook-and-writing-my-own-notes-and-looking-stuff-up-myself kind of learning). Not that it's not enjoyable...just very mixed up. So if you're reading the archives, you've been warned that no two months at FunSchooling will be exactly alike. Actually, I think no two days at FunSchooling will look alike. I used to just throw that description around when asked to describe how we homeschool. I was obviously being extremely honest!

I wonder if the kiddo will ever realize exactly how mixed-up a life he's leading.

The Amazing Adventures of Lightning Dash

I'm still not sure this is a good idea, making his blog public and all. But the kiddo wants it to be read widely and publicly so here goes...

The Amazing Adventures of Lightning Dash

Full disclosure: his blog contains Amazon affiliate links just as Funschooling's does. What this means is that clicking on his book links may lead you to Amazon.com and if you make a purchase, he will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

My concern and discomfort with making his blog public is obviously about internet safety...but I have put several safety nets in place and have disabled comments, so hoping it will be okay. Also, I worry a little about the impression readers will get from his posts...he is a silly, crazy but sweet 8-year-old...still very naive about the world...and I don't want to control his dictation to me as I type it (at least not too much)...so please excuse him (and me too) for anything that seems out of the ordinary.

Edited in April 2012: Kiddo's blog is no longer The Amazing Adventures of Lightning Dash. It is currently: Math and Other Adventures.

Disclosure and Copyright

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Apart from the Amazon affiliate program, I am not compensated to provide my opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. You are assured of my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. 

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Bloggers' Block

I guess it had to come. Long overdue perhaps. To be honest, I never saw myself having the stamina to maintain a blog for as long as I have with this one. The dreaded bloggers' block seems to have hit me.

I don't know why it is. I actually have a lot to say. More books to research and booklists to upload. Crazy ideas about homelearning and how much we've enjoyed playing games and puzzles these past few weeks.

But the words don't want to flow into the sort of homeschooling report I normally give.

I think it's a reflection of how much we've changed, the kiddo and I. While a lot of our earlier homeschooling used to be Mom-directed, this year I am feeling the difference that comes with a maturing child and deepening learning interests. There's just too much breadth AND depth to all we want to learn that a lot of it isn't as easy to describe out loud. While previously I had clear plans about what we were going to do, I now find myself using that time researching book after book and program after program to facilitate the kiddo's learning interests. And looking for fleeting moments to capture little learning records in my log book. While I used to fret over wanting to flit from curriculum to curriculum, there's now an urge to have it all and use the resources as a buffet instead of an ala carte menu...learn all you want to...no need to feel bad about sticking to any particular order or product.

And we have a pile of books we both want to read. Remember I mentioned how I couldn't bear going to the library to check out books and see them left in unread piles all over our carpet? Well, that circumstance has changed somewhat. I've relaxed my requirements about books to read too since happily, the kiddo is able to easily discern these days which books are well written AS WELL AS funny and silly, and which ones are clearly just plain silly and condescending to children.

Maybe I do have a lot to say after all LOL.

On A Break Till Fall

FunSchooling will resume normal programming in the fall! As a quick update, we've been trying out various materials to see what suits us and feels comfortable scheduling-wise for Year 3. In the meanwhile, I've been trying to streamline blog content too. While I've spent ages on layout and tinkering with html and positioning of headers, columns etc, I haven't paid much attention to content. So I'm deleting posts I find repetitive and updating our Year 1 and Year 2 journeys with more complete lists of curriculum we've used.

School starts officially on Monday for our charter. Having carried on with our usual mix of unschooling + bit of scheduled learning + liberal free days throughout summer, I think we're quite ready for the "official" start date. I've been using the past 2-3 weeks to research more materials: living science books and lab materials for instance and also re-visiting curricula we've tried before but discontinued for math. I've also been clearing out shelves and giving away books that just don't get used anymore (or were never used in the first place for the last 2 years) to make space for the more hands-on projects I hope to accomplish in the fall.

Hope your summer has been going well dear reader. See you again in a week or two!

FunSchooling Is Versatile Too!

Says Subadra. Mdm Versatility herself! Am I grateful? You bet I am! But floored nonetheless by the requirement to say seven things about myself and again, award other versatile bloggers. They sure don't make them easy. LOL. Thank you Subadra. Although I seriously feel unworthy here!

Since I'm a little reticent about sharing too much (hey, I already second guess all the posts about the kiddo!) maybe I'll tell you folks a little something about my family too. How about that? I'm sure they won't mind (you'll still love me won't you, guys?).

1. I started writing poetry at about five or six years old. By eight, I'd clip together sheets and sheets of poetry and stuff them into Dad's hands as soon as he returned from his business trips. Most of them were about how much I missed him.
2. I was a very rowdy little youngster and hated wearing girlish clothes. Wanted to be a boy and would wear my brother's shorts and tees at home instead. I prefered legos and meccanos to dolls (most of the dolls I received from hapless gift-givers were beheaded and be-torsoed in seconds). Obviously, I hated puberty.
3. I used to eat the graphite in pencils. Yup! Would just chomp them off, sharpen them and chomp off somemore. Particularly during lessons I didn't like. This only lasted a short while though. Sometime when I was six or seven.
4. Dad and Mom fell in love when they were both caring for the same patient in a teaching hospital in India. Dad wooed Mom with many love letters and Mom eventually accepted. Stuff Indian movies are made of :)
5. My parenting role model is my very beautiful, extremely patient sister-in-law. Although she and I were both born in the same year, I sometimes feel like she's years older in experience and parenting skills. But I look a lot older than she does. She is such a great mom!
6. If you meet my brother, the first thing he'd do is try to convince you that I tried to choke my baby sister with milk powder 30 years ago. I vehemently deny this.
7. My sis is an awesome self-taught photographer. I was very careful not to choke her as a baby knowing she'd be rich rich rich someday (ahem...). I'll post some of her photos of Delhi soon. :)

I'd like to pass this award on to these highly versatile bloggers:

Michelle of Whimsy Way...watercolorist and super cool compiler and reviewer of great homeschool resources (most of them free!)

Christina of Rockhound Place...I have so much respect for people who can play music professionally, and homeschool three kids successfully at the same time.

Jimmie of Jimmie's Collage...American homeschooler in China who shares about many resources and writes eye-opening stories on her blog. That says everything doesn't it?

FunSchooling Has Substance!

Or at least dear, sweet Kris thinks so LOL :) Kris, thanks so much. You've made my day.

As it goes with most blog awards, there are some rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Sum up your blogging motivation, philosophy and experience in exactly 10 words.
3. And the toughest of them all...pass it on to 10 other blogs with substance. I think people who think up these awards do it for the sheer torture of it sometimes don't you? But no, I am being cheeky. I am truly grateful. Anyway, here goes.

My blog summation sentence:
Life should be tons of fun, otherwise there's always icecream!
(why do I get the nagging feeling icecream is 2 words?)

I don't think I can do 10, folks. I seriously want to vote all the blogs in my blog roll. Every one of them is there for the reason that I truly enjoy reading them. But since I don't want to seem disrespectful of the rules and Kris' trust in me, I will highlight the blogs that I have learned a lot from very recently (in alphabetical order):

1. Foodie Culture: I've often wanted to scold Yen for making my mouth water so much LOL. If you live in the SF Bay Area and have wheels and a very adventurous palate (plus LOTS of energy), don't miss her suggestions!  
2. Freely Educate: Amazing resource ideas, all for free. Lori's selfless sharing is truly a substantial contribution to homeschoolers everywhere.
3. Greenridge Chronicles: Sheila has consistently not only been a wonderful online source of laughs and great ideas but also a blogger I'd readily take lessons on writing from. Her wit, kindness and honesty are truly of great substance in my book.
4. Kez's Blog: Many would say I am biased for voting for my best friend but I can't help it. Kerrie just lifts me up with her wonderful posts and very inspiring natural learning bent. If you haven't gotten to know her personally, you should at least try :)
5. Library of Books, Links and More: I don't think there can be any doubt about substance here. Subadra is without compare one of the most helpful people out there when it comes to figuring out advanced science and math resources for your child.
6. Magic and Mayhem: Alicia makes unschooling four bright and beautiful children look amazingly effortless. But we know better don't we? And I salute her for all the hard work she and her hubby are putting in.
7. Quarks and Quirks: Sarah offers very substantial and detailed reviews of some of the best homeschool curriculum. As well as very interesting updates on homeschooling two extremely intelligent young men. Her ideas for high school science are very helpful to me because I have a feeling the kiddo is going to be following a similar learning path.
8. Traveling Jews: Ruth has been there and done that. I find her blog very relaxing to read because I feel as if here is a mom who's seen so much and has gone through so many challenges in homeschooling and life and yet manages to stay sane and calm and collected. One extremely inspiring experienced homeschooling mom here.

Thanks again Kris and happy blogging everyone!

Beautiful Blogger Award

I hope this means the blogger is beautiful too, and not just the blog LOL.

Lots of thanks to Sheri for this award. These are my favorite reads of the year, in no particular order:

Sheri's Our Pace homeschool blog where she seems to have so much fun with her two wonderful kiddos.
Sarah's In Need of Chocolate where she lists lots of great books that she reads with her 2 daughters.
And my other favorite Sarah at Quarks and Quirks who is on an amazing adventure with her two science-loving boys.

Award requirements:

1. Thank person who gave you the award. Thanks again Sheri!
2. Pass it on to 15 favorite bloggers you've just recently discovered. I hope it's respectful enough to choose just 3!
3. Let them know they got the award. I'll be leaving a comment on your blogs.
4. Share 7 things about yourself. Here goes...

My 7 things:

1. I'm a fan of young adult fiction. I always prefer these to novels for grown-ups. Among my favorites are the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and The Mysterious Benedict Society series.
2. The only dish I'm really good at cooking is chicken curry.
3. I adore David Tennant's Dr Who.
4. I have very vivid dreams.
5. I love where I live now but my dream was and still is to settle down in Britain, preferably, in Manchester.
6. For my high school exit exam's Asian History paper, I wrote the entire essay (in the Malay language as required) based on The King and I. I passed!
7. I dislike air travel.

Get in Touch

I hope you will find this an entertaining and perhaps even helpful blog. If you're a homeschooler or book addict like I am, there are many booklists and useful links on this site. So be sure to explore them before you leave! And feel free to drop me a comment or ask a question anytime.

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