Disclaimer: Laws vary state to state and country to country on how often homeschool parents must test their students, how they should be tested, and what should be done with the results. Please consult the laws for your area before making any testing decisions for your child.
My whole life, I have been a good student. From kindergarten to college, I made good grades and was praised by my teachers. My kindergarten teacher recommended me for the gifted program, and in first grade I was evaluated. My IQ was above average, so I started gifted classes, which I loved. When we took the CAT test in early elementary school, I scored off the charts. I did the same later on the ITBS test. But . . . In second grade, I struggled to pass my timed multiplication tests which, my math teacher kept reminding me, I had to pass to go to third grade. My mom got me a tutor, we watched Multiplication Rock constantly at home, my parents quizzed me with flash cards. However, it seemed the more I took the test, the worse I did. The second the test was placed on my desk, I would freeze. I started getting stomach aches and crying every single morning about going to school. One day in math class, I wet my pants. Things didn’t turn around until the school counselor met with me. She explained that, despite what my teacher said, there was no way I would be held back in the second grade. Once I knew that, I passed. In fourth grade, some politician apparently decided that gifted kids should be re-tested every year to stay in the program. I loved being in the gifted program, and I was terrified of being “kicked out.” Yet, since I always tested so high on other standardized tests, my parents and teacher weren’t worried. They were shocked when I tested only in the 84th percentile (you needed to hit 85th to “still” be gifted). My teacher just knew something was wrong with me that day, so she got permission to retest me. I did even worse the second time. She got permission to test me a third time. When my mother told me, I burst into tears. She made the very difficult decision to just accept my fate. According to the state of Georgia, I wasn’t gifted anymore. (Which is impossible, just so you know.) Fast forward to high school, and despite my high GPA, despite the fact that I graduated 21st in my class out of over three hundred students, I only scored in the 80th percentile on the Georgia state writing test. (I went on to teach English and publish books). My SAT scores were below average. Despite those SATs, I still received several scholarships and was invited to Asbury College to compete for one full scholarship and several half scholarships. I tell this slightly embarrassing story to illustrate an important fact: standardized tests are not always an accurate measure of a child’s abilities. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now I know what was going on: I had test anxiety. When a test had no stakes, I did wonderfully. When I felt my future and my worth were wrapped up in the test, I choked. I’m so thankful for how my teachers framed the CAT and the ITBS back in the 80s. “This doesn’t count for anything,” they would tell us. “It’s just to let us know how we’re all doing. No one but you will know your score.” I can’t imagine what it would have been like for me if those tests had the same stakes they do now! It’s funny, but no one knows more about the limitations of standardized tests than educators. Much research has been done to show that these tests do more harm than good. Why might your child score poorly on such a test despite their intelligence? Here are a few factors:
So, am I saying you should never give your homeschooler a standardized test? Actually, no. I wish I could, but unfortunately, these tests aren’t going anywhere. They are a necessary evil, so to speak. Even if your state does not require regular testing, it is a good idea to do it anyway just to practice those test skills I mentioned. After all, you don’t want the first standardized test they ever see to be the PSAT or SAT. Here are some tips, however, to deal with the above issues: #1 Don’t Make a Big Deal Out of It - This is the most important thing you can do. Your child may still have anxiety, but you can greatly reduce it by staying calm yourself. #2 Test at Home if Possible - I highly recommend the PASS test. It’s developed specifically for homeschoolers, and any parent can give it at home. Doing this will address anxiety, accommodations for special needs, hunger, and fatigue. The PASS test isn’t timed, so overthinking the questions won’t penalize your child. You also don’t have to do it all in one day, which will allow for breaks to go outside or get a snack. #3 Do a Test Prep Book - There are tons of inexpensive books to help your child practice the format of a standardized test. One thing to be aware of: there is no way you can practice the content of a test. There are literally millions of possible questions. That’s not the point of practicing. The point is to become familiar with how tests are set up and build skills like narrowing down answers. Make sure you pick a book that includes practicing with an answer sheet. Choosing an answer, finding the corresponding letter on the answer sheet, then bubbling it in is a skill that takes practice. #4 But Don’t Waste Tons of Time on Test Prep - Want to know one huge reason I decided to homeschool? As a teacher, I was appalled at how much instructional time was eaten up by preparing for and taking tests. Don’t do that in your homeschool - it’s why your child is learning at home to begin with! #5 Keep the Results in Perspective Remember that your child’s score is not a reflection on her intelligence or your value as a parent. If you take the results personally, so will your child. (I’m preaching to myself here, believe me!) The scores should only be used to assess possible weaknesses in your curriculum. Remember my division example? Guess what we worked on a lot the next year? This is another reason I love the PASS test; the results are broken down by concepts so you can see what specifically your child got wrong. #6 Don’t Use Test Scores to Argue for Homeschooling Your child is not responsible for validating homeschooling with a high score. No one is entitled to know the score - not grandma, not your next door neighbor, not your friend at co-op. In Georgia, I don’t even have to tell the state. All I have to do is keep them on file, just in case. You may have heard that homeschoolers out-perform public school kids. Guess what? I don’t care. All I need to know is what’s working for my own kid. Full stop. I hope this helps you, Mamas! Testing is a thorn in our sides, but we can learn to bear it, right? And we’ll all pray for the day these tests disappear. Can I get an amen?
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*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a small commission on any purchases. However, all opinions are my own. I never recommend any resources that I don't love!*
I’ve shared in the past how our homeschool is mainly a combination of classical and Charlotte Mason, but that I also do unit studies from time to time. We tend to do a unit study when we get to a period of history that has a lot to cover. History tends to be the easiest subject to build a unit study around. Why is that? Well, historical events happen in the context of their culture. The culture of that time period has music, art, fashion, and literature. There are also scientific advances happening, and math can be applied to the economics and statistics of the time period. My favorite book series for unit students are the “For Kids” series published by Chicago Review Press. These are large books filled with amazing photographs and activities. They have Native Americans for Kids, J.R.R. Tolkien for Kids, Code-Cracking for Kids, The Civil War for Kids, The US Congress for Kids, Galileo for Kids, and many, many more! I am including a link to some of these titles on Amazon at the end of this post, but for a complete list of titles go to Chicago Review Press’s website:chicagoreviewpress.com
We did a unit study using World War II for Kids. Before I get into the details of it, I want to first say two important things. One, these books have way more content than you could ever complete, so pick what is doable for your family and activities you think your kids will enjoy. Second, we did our unit study during the complete Covid-19 lockdown back in March and April of 2020. For that reason, we had tons of extra time in our homeschool day. There were no co-ops, no sports, no church. So I probably couldn’t do as much now as I did then. Be realistic in what you can accomplish.
The book and it’s set up:
Sample pages from the book:
The Activities:
#1 Extinguishing an Incendiary Bomb: There was no bomb involved in this activity, obviously! We used a garden hose, a bucket filled halfway with dirt, a shovel, a broom, and a rock (the book said to use a potato, but we didn’t have any, so we used a rock shaped like a potato.) We first read about the Blitz in London and how finding a bomb like this in your living room was a reality for many Brits. Then we went outside and followed the same instructions British moms and kids had to use if they found such a bomb in their house!
Subjects used (besides history): science and math (the kids had to measure the correct distance to stay away from our rock “bomb”)
#2 Break the Code: This one was really simple. Using the instructions in the book, my kids made up a code, then wrote messages to each other using their code. Subjects used: writing and math
#3 Camouflage Activity: My kids went into the woods behind our house (without me, though I could see them well enough through the kitchen window). They took my oldest son’s bike and used branches and leaves to camouflage it just like troops did during the war with their jeeps and tanks. Then they had me and my husband come outside and try to find the bike. (The book said to use binoculars at a distance, but we don’t own any.) They did a really good job - can you see the bike?
Subjects used: science and math
#4 Rationing Game: We actually spread this game out for several weeks. We first made a rationing book for our family, using the information in the book. Since we were on lockdown for the pandemic, we were getting groceries delivered. So every time the groceries arrived, the kids had to count everything we had purchased and cut out the correct number of ration coupons our family had used. This activity ended up being very timely as certain items during the pandemic were difficult to get, just like during World War II. It helped remind us that in difficult times, we all have to pitch in and make sacrifices. Subjects used: math, science (nutrition now vs in the 1940s), and for us, religion (how can we trust God to provide for our needs, how we can put others ahead of ourselves during difficult times)
#5 V-Mail: Full disclosure, only my daughter did this one. It was just one of those days, and forcing the boys to do it felt like a battle that wasn’t worth fighting (no pun intended!). So, Haley followed the instructions in the book on how to set up her letter (it had to be certain dimensions, or it wouldn’t be delivered), then I “censored” it with a black sharpie. Haley had fun drawing a picture for the “soldier” she was writing to like depicted in the book.
Subjects used: math (measuring), art #6 Go on a Reconnaissance Mission: My kids loved this one the most. As a matter of fact, they loved it so much, I had to force them to come inside and get ready for bed. You have to wait until after dark to do this activity. The kids basically mapped out our cul de sac and recorded any “suspicious” activity with the use of a flashlight, pen, and paper. Two of them would go on the “mission” while another would stay behind as backup. They had to “synchronize” their watches, and if they weren’t back in time, the third person would go on a “rescue mission.” Needless to say, this got very dramatic. Subjects used: math and drama (haha) #7 In Hiding: You can probably guess what this one is about. If you have kids who are extremely sensitive or get frightened easily, this one may not be for you. My kids had to pretend they were Jews in hiding. They had to find a place in our house to hide from the Gestapo. The book gave them things to consider about how good of a hiding place it was. We prepared the hiding place with books, flashlights, food, a journal, pens and pencils, blankets, a couple of chairs, etc. Our house is pretty small and has no basement or attic, so my kids had no choice but to use the master bedroom walk-in closet. I distinctly remember Ian, my youngest saying, “well, we’d be caught for sure.” Once you get the hiding place ready, you pretend that the Gestapo has come to search the house, and the kids go and hide in the designated place. You’re supposed to wait an hour to give them the all-clear, but my kids didn’t make it anywhere near that long. It did lead to an interesting discussion, however, when my kids tried to imagine hiding like that for weeks, months, or years. Subjects used: problem solving, yet even more important, is the compassion and empathy for others that can come from this activity #8 Medics: I actually made this one up. There is an activity to make bandages, which we did, but then I expanded it. Another section of the book outlined what medics had to do in the field to stabilize the wounded and transport them as safely as possible. The kids took turns being the wounded and the medics. Subjects used: science and math (to measure out the bandages), and conservation/recycling (like those on the 40s homefront, we used old shirts to make the bandages) Here is Haley making bandages on "the homefront" and she and her big brother playing medic and nurse to injured "soldier" Ian. (You also get a glimpse of our messy house, lol):
Literature: Along with all of the above, we also read the following books:
I actually had plans to do several other activities in the book, but then things got in the way. Yes, even during a pandemic lockdown, things happened to throw a wrench in our plans. We were still doing some of our core subjects in addition to the unit study, so sometimes I felt we needed to focus on some more traditional school. Other days, frankly, the kids were emotional from the stress of the pandemic and needed a breather. (Or maybe I was the one who needed an emotional breather, lol!) The main point is, my unit didn’t match my original plans in the end, but the kids still learned a lot, and two years later, they are still talking about some of it.
There are many more activities that we didn’t do like listening to music from WWII, making a butter extender, learning to say key phrases in different languages, making uniform insignias, and making a ration kit. You can also make a care package to send to a soldier or missionary overseas just like families did in WWII. Because if there’s one thing my family learned in this unit, it’s that people don’t change all that much. We still have to pull together and love one another to conquer evil, whether that evil is war, racism, or disease. That love really can conquer all. Some titles (with links - click on image) from the For Kids series:
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small comission for any purchases. However, all opinions are my own. *
Have you often felt that your understanding of geography is lacking? If you do, you’re not alone. Most American adults will probably tell you that they were taught very little world geography growing up in school. Amatuer “word on the street” interviews and formal surveys back it up. Most Americans can’t tell you where the majority of countries are on a map, and many don’t know their state capitals. One thing I was sure of when I decided to homeschool: my kids would know where countries were on a map. They would not be a statistic. The question was - how did I do that? The traditional idea in education today is that social studies (geography, culture, and history) should start with the child and then branch outward. You talk about family units and neighborhood “helpers” like firefighters and doctors in preschool and kindergarten. Through most of elementary school, you study the history of your town, state, and country. Only when a child is late elementary, at the earliest, do kids branch out to the world at large. The thought is that kids can’t understand things far removed from their own lives. The classical model of education is vastly different. In a classical education, the history of the entire world should be taught chronologically. Geography, therefore, begins with the earliest civilizations with recorded history: those on the continents of Africa and Asia. This gives a child a sense that there is a great big world out there, and they are only a small part of it. It combats the self-centeredness that permeates so much of our culture. I’ve also found that young kids are extremely fascinated by the cultures of faraway lands. This was especially important to my husband who is an associate pastor over missions at our church. He wanted our kids to have a global worldview, and I agreed. The classical cycle of geography, therefore, made the most sense. This is the order in which you learn geography classically: Africa, Asia, Europe, the South Pacific Islands, Australia, South America, North America, then your own country’s geography in more detail (for us, that’s the United States). You go through the cycle, then you start over again, then you start again. By the time they graduate, your child will have studied world geography at least three times. My three kids do geography together, so they don’t all necessarily start the cycle in the same place, but that’s okay. The general idea is to broaden their worldview beyond their own culture. So, how do we do it? Well, after years of tweaking, I have come up with the simplest way to teach my kids world geography. I was able to see the fruit of my labors when we watched the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremonies a couple of months ago. My kids knew where almost all of the countries were (generally speaking). It was exciting that my kids knew about countries that I didn’t even know existed until I was an adult. We start with Kathy Troxel’s Geography Songs. It comes with a giant world map that I hang on the wall. Inside the book that accompanies the music CD, are maps of each area. As we listen to the song, I point to each country on the map inside the book with the end of a pencil. (Sometimes it takes me a few tries to get the hang of it!) After we sing the song, we look more closely at the culture of one of the countries featured in the song.
I’ve purchased two fascinating and gorgeous books for this: Material World and Hungry Planet. Even though these books were written in the 90s, they still give a great taste of different cultures with stunning photographs. Your kids will get a glimpse of an ordinary family from that country. (Please note that occasionally there is National Geographic type nudity in these books.)
However, there are many countries not covered in these books. If a country isn’t featured, I see if our public library has a book on it. My favorite series is Enchantment of the World:
I don’t read these books, by the way. We just flip through them together and look at the pictures to get a visual of what the place is like. In addition, we pray for that nation. These books, being secular, don’t tell us the full picture of what’s going on spiritually in these countries. For example, Enchantment of the World will claim that the middle eastern countries have freedom of religion. While that may be technically true, most of us know that isn’t what’s actually happening. For great information on how to pray for these countries, you can check the Voice of the Martyrs website.
When we do United States Geography, I use the series America the Beautiful:
We also loved flashcards of state capitals similar to these:
I highly recommend using the library for getting a visual of these countries and states to cut down on the expense. After we look at one of these books for our “country of the week,” we color that country in on the large world map that came with Geography Songs. My kids like to take turns choosing what color we will use. We also find the country on our globe. I highly recommend investing in a globe because flat maps change the shapes of the countries. For example, you can’t tell on a flat map how large Alaska is or how far away from the mainland United States Hawaii is. On a globe, you can.
Then, I give my kids a blank map of whatever continent/region our geography song is covering. I use Hands On Geography (we don’t do the activities, just the maps). You can also find great blackline maps for free online. My kids fill in as many countries (or states) they can from memory, then they use an atlas to fill in the rest. I like National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers. My Kids Filling in their Weekly Maps:
Once we finish an entire continent, we do a huge map from mapsfortheclassroom.com. I love these maps because they are so enormous, making it easy to fill in everything. The downside is, several years ago they suddenly went from being homeschool friendly to being geared only for schools. You now have to place a minimum order of twelve maps. I simply ordered all the maps I needed for years to come, but you could also go in with another family. Thankfully, you just have to order twelve maps total, not twelve of the same map. Another upside is that the maps are inexpensive. Here are my kids with their Africa maps:
It takes us about three weeks or more to finish these, especially since we only do geography on Mondays. That’s right, you only have to do this once a week. If you’re thinking that’s not enough, you can increase it for your family. However, I’ve personally found it difficult to do it more frequently. It’s still way more geography than I got in school, however.
What about projects? Keep in mind that those are very time-consuming. I recommend only doing projects occasionally. Holidays are a good time to pause and do some projects. For example, we did a Christmas around the world unit that was fun. You just want to make sure your kids are actually learning and retaining the names of the countries and where they are on a map. Even if they can’t find the specific location of a country like Tunisia, at least they will know what continent and general area it’s in. If you spend too much time making French crepes or Chinese paper lanterns, your kids won’t have time to commit the map skills to long term memory. Just something to keep in mind. I hope I’ve helped you feel more confident about giving your kids a great foundation in world geography!
* This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for any clicks or purchases. However, all opinions are my own. *
You may have noticed that one of my purposes for this blog is to share with you my mistakes so you won’t have to make them. However, I know that no matter how many blogs you follow, no matter how many books you read, you will make mistakes. I want to encourage you: you don’t have to be perfect to homeschool your child well. Classroom teachers aren’t perfect, and you won’t be either. It’s okay. What better way to encourage you than to share my own homeschool fails with you? I’ve honestly made so many, I can’t even remember them all! I made mistakes as a classroom teacher, too. Here, however, are my three biggest homeschool fails. Perhaps you can relate. #1 The Phonics Nightmare Between my three kids, I have used five different phonics curriculums. Every time I have switched, it has been because the previous experience was an unmitigated disaster that I feared had made my children despise reading forever. It’s never good when your child starts to cry as soon as you get the phonics book out. With Luke, my oldest, I first tried Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Let me tell you, there was nothing easy about it. Every lesson was supposed to take fifteen minutes. It took us three times that. They used this weird way of writing the letters phonetically that made no sense to Luke (or me, for that matter). Then he was supposed to write certain letters several times, at which point he would throw his pencil and writhe on the ground like he needed an exorcism. He was delayed in his fine motor skills and was only five, so I don’t know what I was expecting. The day he screamed, “no!” when I got the book out, I knew it was time for a change. (I felt like screaming myself). We switched to Explode the Code, which wasn’t great, but he at least didn’t scream when he saw the books. Even though they were workbooks, I reduced the amount of words he had to actually write (a lot of it was circling the correct words or letters). Even though his phonics experience wasn’t the greatest, he’s now reading voraciously, and on a college level. The first book I tried with Haley, my middle child, was Phonics Pathways. It didn’t have weird phonics symbols or a writing component, so I thought we’d be okay. Wrong. She never screamed. No, she cried. Sobbed at times. Eventually, just seeing the book was enough to elicit tears. It got so bad, she started struggling to breath just looking at the list of words she was supposed to sound out. At first, I made her a glitter calming jar to shake when we did phonics. Then I suddenly thought, “What am I doing?” She loves to draw, so I looked for a phonics curriculum with an art component, and discovered First Start Reading by Memoria Press. She began to have success with it. It still wasn’t perfect and had way too much writing, in my opinion, but it seemed to be working. As the lessons got more difficult, she started to hyperventilate again when she saw long lists of words to sound out, so we just went really slow, reading only five or six words at a time. Haley now loves to read and is reading on grade level. The entire experience of teaching my first two kids to read was humbling in the most agonizing way. Everyone assumed it was the easiest part for me. After all, I was an English education major. Here’s what nobody understood: when you get a degree in teaching middle and high school students English literature, the assumption is that your students already know how to read. I didn’t know anything more about how to teach a child to read than the next mom. An older homeschool mom gave me the most encouraging piece of advice during this time period. She said, “There are two great mysteries in parenting: potty training and learning how to read. You think they’re never going to get it, but somehow, they do.” (I was also potty training a toddler when she told me this - I seriously started crying!) When it came time to teach Ian, my youngest, to read, I was on a mission: find a phonics curriculum that didn’t require any writing or workbooks. I also didn’t want to pay a small fortune for it. (Why do so many phonics curriculums cost hundreds of dollars?) I discovered Simply Charlotte Mason’s Delightful Reading Series. We have absolutely loved it! My older two always complain, “why didn’t we get to do that when we learned to read?” I know that every kid is different, and that there’s no perfect phonics curriculum, but of all five that I have tried, this is the one I recommend the most. You can check it out on their website here:
#2 The Tragic Ballad of Dusty and Princess
When my oldest two were in first grade and pre-k, for science we just checked out the Let’s Read and Find Out science books from the library. The series has all kinds of topics from the five senses, to how a seed grows, to how a tadpole becomes a frog.
Now, when we read What’s It Like to Be a Fish?, I had already had one semi failure with one of these books. When we read How a Seed Grows, it tells you to plant beans in an egg carton, and dig a different one up each day to see how it’s growing. One seed you let grow for two weeks, and you get a little bean plant! I am the worst gardener in the history of the world, I promise you, so I was pretty proud that this little plant survived. The question was, now what did we do with it? Luke and Haley didn’t want it to die, so I thought maybe we could plant it in the backyard.
I went to my friend Amanda, a fantastic gardener, to ask her what I should do. As she talked about proper soil, the right place in the yard to get the perfect amount of sun, and getting a bean pole to support the plant, my head spun. I did a sneaky mom thing: I threw the little plant in the garbage and hoped the kids wouldn’t notice. However, when What’s It Like to Be a Fish? suggested getting a goldfish, I thought, “how hard can it be?” So we went to Walmart and Luke and Haley picked out two goldfish whom they named Dusty and Princess. I was shocked at the cost of aquariums, so we just got a bowl. Again, how hard could it be? Famous last words.
Taking care of a goldfish in a bowl, you know, without the filtering and stuff on a nicer aquarium, is a pain in the neck. The water gets disgusting fast, so you have to clean it every few days. Unbeknownst to me, you also can’t just put the fish in a baggy, wipe out the bowl, then put them back in new water. Oh no, the little guys are sensitive to the temperature of the water, so you have to use old water in their little bags, then let them sit in their bags in the new water for a little while, then, when the temperature is perfect, you can release them into the clean water.
I’m sure you know where this is going. Yes, I killed Dusty and Princess. In my defense, I did keep them alive for about a month. But one fateful day, sick and tired of cleaning out the bowl, I didn’t wait as long as I should have to reintroduce the fish to the bowl. Princess went into shock immediately, poor thing. Dusty lasted about a day. The worst part is, I was secretly glad because I didn’t want to clean that stupid bowl anymore. My children weren’t particularly attached to the fish, so I flushed them down the toilet without saying anything. It was weeks before they noticed. Actually, they noticed the empty bowl in the garage first. We had a beloved dog at the time, so I don’t think it really affected them all that much. Scout was far more fun, after all. You can’t cuddle a fish or play catch with it. Hopefully, they at least learned some science despite their mother’s touch of death. Speaking of which . . . #3 The Ant Farm of Death
Apologia’s Young Explorers Series: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day recommends a few hands-on activities with living things. One of them is getting an ant farm and watching the hard working little guys go about their lives. I ordered one from Amazon, despite my misgivings. We had skipped so many of the experiments, I was starting to feel guilty.
Here’s the thing: an ant farm doesn’t arrive at your door with ants inside. You either have to go outside and catch some ants yourself, or you order the ants separately. Since I certainly wasn’t about to go ant hunting, I ordered ants.
I can’t believe I just typed that. You might be a homeschool mom if . . . Anyways, when the ants arrive, you can’t just put them inside the farm because they’ll crawl all over the place instead of going inside. (And yes, they can bite you. They aren’t fire ants, but still . . .) So, you have to put them in the refrigerator for a little while to put them to sleep, but not too long or you’ll kill them. I put the little tube they were in inside the fridge, but I was paranoid I would kill them, so when I got them out and started dumping them into the farm, they started to wake up. I started screaming as I frantically dumped them into their home. Things only went downhill from there (no pun intended). The other thing we discovered is that you have to keep your home at a certain temperature if you have an ant farm. If the ants get too cold, they will die. The instructions said to keep it between 65 and 75 degrees fahrenheit. No problem, we thought. Well . . . It was spring when we got the ant farm, and spring in the deep south where we live is very confusing. It could be fifty degrees when you wake up in the morning, then be eighty that afternoon. So we would start the day with the heat on, then have to turn on the air. One night before bed, we forgot to turn the heat on. We woke up to a freezing house the next morning. And a lot of dead ants in the ant farm. However, once the house warmed up, some of the ants started perking back up. We breathed a sigh of relief. We also got a rather macabre lesson in ant colonies: they have a burial room. We watched the poor little ants carry their fallen comrades to a special section they had created in the farm. Over the next few days, we sadly watched more and more ants succumb to death. We made sure to turn the heat on each night, but it was already too late. Soon there was only one poor ant carrying dead bodies. All alone. It was probably the most depressing homeschool lesson possible. Epic mom fail. My kids still to this day talk about the last ant left. I’m suddenly getting very emotional about this memory. God, I probably scarred my kids for life. These three stories don’t even cover all of the times I’ve been too lazy to do an experiment in science or a hands-on project in history. It doesn’t outline the times I’ve gotten confused explaining something, confusing my children even more. There are also the epic fails I made as a classroom teacher. Like an activity on the Holocaust where I had all my ninth graders take their shoes off and put them in a giant, messy pile only for the fire alarm to go off. You know that scene in Kindergarten Cop when Arnold Schwarzenagger’s class comes running out of the building during the fire drill screaming in chaos, and the entire rest of the school is standing there waiting for them? Yeah, that was my class, but without shoes. I hope by sharing some of my most embarrassing moments as a teacher and a mom, it’s helped you be a little less hard on yourself. Someday, we can all laugh at our epic fails. While shedding a tear or two for the ants. (But not the fish. God, I hated cleaning that bowl.) |
AuthorHi, I'm Melanie! I'm a homeschooling mom of three kids ages 13, 11, and 9. I have a BS in English Secondary Education from Asbury University plus 30 hours of gifted certification course work. I've taught in just about every situation you can imagine. Public school, private, homeschool hybrid, and private tutoring. The most important thing I've learned? One on one, individualized instruction can't be beat. Archives
July 2022
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