Homeschool | The Wolfe Pack {Reviews~Support~Opinions for the Discerning Homeschool Mom}

The Many Unexpected Benefits of a Homeschool Co-Op {Three: SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG}

June 28, 2020 by Katherine Wolfe Leave a Comment

Of all of the installments in our series, The Many Unexpected Benefits of a Homeschool Co-Op, this one, SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG, is probably the strangest.

If you haven’t read the first two installments in the series, you can find them here:

BRATS and BULLIES

FAILURES and FRUSTRATIONS

But, SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG, is my favorite.

And here’s why.

Our kids, as much as we might want to raise them in a protective bubble, are going to be exposed to things we’d prefer they never experienced, including SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG.

Whether they hear SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG

on the TV,

while out shopping,

in line at the movie theater,

from the neighborhood children,

at your favorite family restaurant or

during Thanksgiving dinner {thanks to Uncle Bob,}

the fact remains, they are going to hear it.

For example, my son, when he was about eight-years-old, participated in an Auto Basics class where he was taught several cool car things by a co-op father who happened to be a truck driver. It was a GREAT class and I am very grateful that he was able to learn so many handy things from a professional. But, he also learned some EXTRA things too!

During the session where the father taught them how to change a tire, every student took turns loosening the nuts in order to remove the tire. The kid who was next in line was in charge of holding the nuts and then when it was his turn, he passed them to the person behind him to hold.

If you can see where this is going, your knowledge of INAPPROPRIATE SLANG is far more advanced than my son’s was for sure, because every time one kid would pass the nuts to the next kid, he would say, “here, hold my nuts” and laughter would erupt from everybody BUT MY SON. The truck-driving father, not used to handling a bunch of kids and with his head beneath the car the entire time, didn’t even notice the joke or the laughter. The moms on duty, on the other hand, did and put a stop to it as best they could.

Then, after the class was over and we were headed home, my son asked me what had been so funny. So, I explained what the kids were referring to, that it’s really not a polite term to use and that if he had more questions, he could ask his father {I figured he could do a better job on the topic.}

Later that night, the wife of the truck driver called me and apologized for what happened {less for the fact that her husband missed the issue and more for the fact that her son was one of the kids involved.} Though I appreciated the phone call, I explained that there was nothing to apologize over. I was glad the situation had occurred just as it did. Why?

Because, in all honesty, I don’t want my kid to be the one in the college dorm bathroom not understanding some hallmate’s INAPPROPRIATE SLANG reference to his genitalia. Seriously. I’d rather he have learned it at 8 than 18. AND, more importantly, I’m glad he learned it while I was standing there so I could explain things more appropriately in private.

Let me give you another example. This occurred with the same group of boys, but this time my precious son was the offender.

During a rowdy version of a review game in his history co-op class, when my son lost to be buzzer in a 1:1 match, he actually called his opponent a bastard!

I’m not kidding. He was eleven at the time. And he called one of his friends a bastard. And he did it in front of 15 kids, three other moms and myself. Um, yeah. Bastard.

Turns out, he learned the word from a Marvel movie {thanks, Thor}. He knew that it was to be used in reference to when your enemy beat you but didn’t have a clue that it was not to be repeated. I’m not sure if there were kids present who didn’t know the word already, but if there were, they can thank our co-op for the extra bit of education that day.

And you can be sure that I was the one making apology phone calls later that night.

I’m a list-maker and curriculum-junkie so I LOVE to plan out our lessons, including life lessons like cooking, sewing, banking, cleaning, etc. But, believe me when I say, SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG is NOT something I’ve planned out and written lesson plans for. So, if our son is going to learn {OR USE} them anywhere, our homeschool co-op is my preferred place.

I have loads of examples but don’t really want to list them here in black and white {and green.} Plus some of what we consider inappropriate, others don’t {crap, for example}. But, that just makes my point all the more valid.

When learning what is socially appropriate and acceptable, I’m really glad our son has been able to do that in the comfort and safety of our homeschool co-op. Because what better way to stumble {or watch others do the same} than with protective mamas standing there making sure things don’t get out of hand and who can address things more in-depth at home?

So, as bizarre as it sounds, maybe your family needs to join a homeschool co-op, so your kids can learn all the latest SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG?

Want some help teaching your kids how to identify and be a good friend? Check out my Friendship and Virtues Lesson Plan Pack! It’s PERFECT for a Co-Op class!

The Many UNEXPECTED BENEFITS of a Homeschool Co-op {Two: FAILURES and FRUSTRATIONS}

June 28, 2020 by Katherine Wolfe Leave a Comment

Both veteran and novice homeschoolers often wonder if a co-op is the right choice for their families. The topic is hotly debated in homeschool groups and within local communities. It can even cause strife among friends and family members. But just like the decision to homeschool or not, the decision to participate in a co-op can only be made by each individual family.

Are you trying to decide whether to participate in a homeschool co-op? If so, this series is perfect for you!

The Many Unexpected Benefits of a Homeschool Co-Op explores the not-so-often discussed benefits that your family can gain by participating in a homeschool co-op.

This installment of the series,

FACING FAILURES and FRUSTRATIONS with YOUR KIDS,

speaks to how a homeschool co-op can force us, as parents, to put our kids in situations that cause frustrations and feelings of failure.

You’re probably wondering why I would suggest we do such a thing?

Why should we put our kids into situations that cause frustrations and feelings of failure?

Let me explain…

If you haven’t read the first installment in the series, you can find it here:

The Many Unexpected Benefits of a Homeschool Co-op: BRATS and BULLIES

As a parent, it is so easy to

indulge,

coddle,

cater to,

oblige,

enable,

and even

spoil our kids.

Few of us will readily admit that we do this but we all know how easy it is to do!

We fix the food they like.

We purchase clothes they will wear.

We don’t force them to watch movies or read books they find scary.

We let them pick and choose in which sports/activities to participate.

And as homeschool parents, the opportunities to indulge, coddle, cater to, enable and spoil our kids are multiplied several times over.

We teach to their style.

We choose topics they like.

We allow them to work on the sofa.

We let them wear pajamas all day long.

We speed lessons up when the topic is easy.

We slow lessons down when they are struggling.

And, if they have a tantrum over math, we stop school for the day.

And then we make cookies together.

And, why wouldn’t we? I mean, if we have the flexibility to allow our kids to experience the loveliest of days as often as possible, shouldn’t we?

I dare to say that probably many of us homeschool BECAUSE we want to create as many happy, peaceful, productive days for our kids as possible.

But, as much as we may want to make their days as pleasant as possible, we cannot shield them from experiencing any unpleasantness at all.

We just can’t.

And, really, we shouldn’t.

Why? Because real life isn’t always pleasant and they need to know how to recognize, accept and respond to life’s unpleasant experiences.

And FAILURES and FRUSTRATIONS are two of those unpleasant experiences that will occur throughout their lives.

And since our entire goal of parents should be to equip our kids with the necessary skills to live fulfilling, God-glorifying lives, we need to help them learn how to handle these frustrations now.

So, why not create situations for them where they actually have to face FAILURES and FRUSTRATIONS with us literally standing in their corners?

And the local homeschool co-op could be the perfect opportunity to do just that!

We were part of a local co-op for several years and during those years, we encountered

BRATS and BULLIES,

MAYHEM and MESSINESS,

SEX TALK and SWEARWORDS,

and myriad of other life experiences.

And one of those others experiences that we encountered multiple times were feelings of FAILURE and FRUSTRATION.

I’ll admit that the first time our son faced a FRUSTRATING experience at co-op {having to team up with an older, opinionated girl for an art activity,} I was tempted to swoop in and save the day. But, before I could make that mistake, his co-op teacher handled the situation by assessing the issue, encouraging communication and then closely monitoring that things were fine {and they were.}

And then, over the next few days, my son and I talked about the experience and what had caused his FRUSTRATION. Because I was there to witness it, I was able to discuss it with him. He was able to explain that he hadn’t wanted to work with her because she’s “older, opinionated and a better artist” so he assumed he would have no say in the details of the project and, as is typical of young kids, he got FRUSTRATED before even giving the girl a chance.

As hard as it was to watch his little five-year-old face furrow into an unhappy form with tears welling up, I am glad he had that FRUSTRATING experience at co-op. Why? Because it allowed him to learn something new about himself, his peers and life. I could not have created those same unequal collaborative circumstances for him at home. But our homeschool co-op certainly did!

And the FRUSTRATING experiences did not stop at that first one. There were many times he got FRUSTRATED over with which kids he had to work, for which assignments he was chosen, how long he had to wait until his raised hand was recognized….but each one of those experiences allowed him the opportunity to grow and learn about himself and life in general.

And when he experienced his first FAILURE at co-op {not being able to cut out several teeny tiny pieces for a music-themed lapbook,} I mostly wanted to {not-so-gently} tell the teacher who had planned the lesson that she had overestimated the scissor skills of her students. But, then I noticed that all of my son’s peers were able to accomplish the task without issue so I was wrong. She hadn’t misjudged anything; apparently we needed more practice with the scissors at home.

So, that’s what we did. We worked on his scissor skills so he didn’t feel like a FAILURE the next week when he had to cut out more annoyingly teeny tiny pieces for another lapbook. And, I am so glad we did because, he definitely needed to work on those skills. But, I know myself and my tendency to avoid situations like that at home. So, I know I would not have made him face his lacking scissor skills at home because

he doesn’t enjoy projects like that,

it’s not his learning style,

and I hate lapbooks.

{Side note: Am I the only homeschool mom on the planet who detests lapbooks? I get the purpose of being multi-sensory and all that, but they just require so much time-consuming, detailed work for one very specific topic. And for what? Where do you store them? You can’t display them. It’s not like a simple book that can be read over and over again. And all of the glued on pieces eventually fall off anyhow and the entire thing ends up in the trash.}

Other feelings of FAILURE occurred when he couldn’t tie his shoes fast enough in a relay, his classmate could not decipher his handwriting and his team lost at a math game. But witnessing those FAILURES allowed me to recognize things on which we needed to work at home. Observing my son in another setting {other than schooling at home} allowed me to view his progress with different eyes.

FRUSTRATIONS and FAILURES like these occur in public school classrooms a thousand times each day, but by the time most kids get home from school at 4:30pm, they’ve probably forgotten WHY they ever felt irritated and yet their little brains and hearts are still trying to process things. So, they don’t mention it to Mom and they don’t try to explain it to anybody. They just act out and Mom chalks it up to the kid being tired, hungry or, worse yet, just ill-behaved.

And they don’t stop as our kids get older. In fact, dare I say they get worse? As our little ones grow into tweens and teens, ALL OF their feelings get more complicated so it’s probably safe to say their feelings of FRUSTRATIONS and FAILURES get more complicated too. And, now it’s not just that they don’t know how to formulate words for their feelings, they may not WANT to even try {because they’re teens and that’s what teens tends to do.}

FRUSTRATIONS and FAILURES like these also occur

at work,

in college classes,

on community boards,

within Bible Studies at church,

anywhere that people need to work together.

So, whether we like it or not, our kids WILL experience many FRUSTRATIONS and FAILURES in their lifetimes, and therefore, need to know how to recognize, accept and respond to life’s unpleasant experiences. And they cannot learn how to do those things if they don’t have the opportunity to experience them.

And since they don’t have the opportunity to face these FRUSTRATIONS and FAILURES in the public school setting, perhaps a homeschool co-op is the right choice for your family?

Click here for the next installment in this series, The Many Unexpected Benefits of a Homeschool Co-op: SWEARWORDS and INAPPROPRIATE SLANG

Want some help teaching your kids how to identify and be a good friend? Check out my Friendship and Virtues Lesson Plan Pack! It’s PERFECT for a Co-Op class!

Three More FLAG FACTS You Probably Don’t Know {but should!}

June 23, 2020 by Katherine Wolfe 1 Comment

While doing research for a Flag Day Resource, I learned some really interesting facts about our flag. I learned so many interesting Flag Facts, in fact, that there were too many for just one post so I decided to highlight THREE MORE FLAG FACTS.

Before you read FLAG FACTS 4-6, you might want to check out the first three FLAG FACTS at THREE FACTS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT OUR FLAG.

FLAG FACT FOUR: The arrangement of our stars has a really sinuous history. In 1777, Congress specified that our flag should have 13 stars on a blue field and 13 alternating red and white stripes. But they did not specify how the stars should be arranged. And as new states were added, so were new stars and, therefore, the arrangement kept changing. And since Congress hadn’t specified an arrangement, flagmakers just came up with various designs.

Between 1776 and 1960, we’ve had twenty-seven different star arrangements including….

and, of course,

Then there was my least favorite, the

design of 1859.

Thankfully, somewhere along the line {1912, to be exact,} the specific arrangement of stars, along with other details, were mandated and that gave us a flag that was nicely organized and

Then, in 1958, as Alaska and Hawaii were nearing statehood, President Eisenhower requested that Americans submit design suggestions on how to arrange the stars to reflect 50 states. Thousands of designs were submitted, including one from a 16-year-old student from Ohio.

Robert G. Heft submitted his design after his high school teacher had turned Eisenhower’s request into a class assignment. Despite the fact that Robert’s teacher gave him a B- for his efforts, his design was selected and it is what we still use today!

I find that pretty interesting! Few, if any, other 16-year-old kids can claim such an iconic symbol as their own design.

FLAG FACT FIVE: Our flag is the third oldest flag still in use. The Stars and Stripes is only younger than the flag of

which was created in 1219

and the flag of

which has been around since 1572.

Now, this interesting fact should not be confused with how old the world’s various countries really are, because if you know much history at all, you know the US is considered to be a relatively young country at less than 250 years old. But, as some countries have decolonized, wars have been waged and other countries have changed their constitutions, flags have been changed.

Take the U.K. for instance. Obviously, Great Britain is older than we are {considering the fact that we exist simply because we wanted to free ourselves from them} but their flag, commonly known as the Union Jack, is only 219 years old. Why? Because they redesigned their flag in 1801 when they added Ireland to their “United Kingdom”.

So, as long as you don’t directly compare the age of flags with the age of countries, the fact that our flag is the third oldest in the world is a fact you could certainly use to impress your friends {or at least look cool when answering Jeopardy questions.}

FLAG FACT SIX: Astronauts didn’t fly with our flag until their eighth mission. The iconic look of our astronaut’s spacesuits with Old Glory on the shoulder wasn’t a part of our space program until 1965. And considering that the Space Race has been part of the international political climate since 1955, this is a rather interesting fact.

But what’s even more interesting is the fact that it was an astronaut himself that had the idea. And then he paid for the flag patch out of his own pocket! Astronaut Ed White was scheduled to make America’s first spacewalk on the Gemini IV mission. Realizing the historic nature of the photos that would be taken, he and mission commander Jim McDivitt paid out of their own pockets for flag patches to wear on their uniforms. Recognizing a good idea, NASA then made them standard issue.

Of these THREE FLAG FACTS, which do you find the most interesting? Leave a comment below and let me know!

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to check out my other FLAG FACTS post, THREE FACTS YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW ABOUT OUR FLAG.

How to Slow the SUMMER SLIDE

May 10, 2020 by Katherine Wolfe 3 Comments

{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.}

SUMMER SLIDE is a phrase used to describe the slide backwards that many children make in reading and math skills over the summer break.

When I was a classroom teacher, the SUMMER SLIDE was to be expected. And reviewing for several weeks in the fall in order to combat the SUMMER SLIDE was also to be expected. It’s common practice for classroom teachers to build in several weeks of review at the start of each new school year. Unfortunately, it is impossible to target each kid’s specific “slide issues” so, instead, entire classes receive the same review. Sally might’ve slid back twelve steps in math and three steps in reading while Billy slid back two steps in math and twenty steps in reading. But both Billy and Sally {plus their twenty classmates} would have to sit through the same review lessons.

But, one of the many benefits of homeschooling is that we don’t release our students into the wild summer with nothing but a library card and and our sincere hopes that they’ll do more than just watch TV, play video games and sleep late. We actually get to shape their schedules and continue to place expectations on their educations.

But, unless our kids have no break in their school routines at all, homeschool kids are still prone to the SUMMER SLIDE.

So, why not be purposeful in making sure our kids don’t lose too much over the summer break? Below are five of our top suggestions for slowing the SUMMER SLIDE.

ONE: DO FUN UNIT STUDIES

This is always my favorite educational activity to do over the summer because we get to learn about all sorts of subjects, people and events that we didn’t have time for during the regular school year. The variety of unit studies that is available is endless and also fairly inexpensive. Plus, they are easy to add to/subtract from as fits your family’s needs and schedule. Teachers Pay Teachers has an enormous selection of unit studies on all sorts of subjects including some great current event topics including the 2020 Summer Olympics, the Presidential Election and Sharks!

TWO: PLAY REVIEW GAMES

In order to keep school at least a wee bit fun during the school year, we try to play at least one educational game per week but, sadly, the weekly game is always the first thing to get cut when we are running short of time. But, summer is the perfect time to be diligent about playing educational games. Whether you want to review math, science, spelling or history, there are several educational games that are both fun AND serve as a very purposeful review. Some of our favorites include Four Way Countdown {which covers all four mathematical operations so it’s perfect for nearly all ages/skill levels,} Game of the States {geography,} Wordical {spelling} and Totally Gross {science}.

THREE: SHARE a BACK & FORTH JOURNAL

We’ve done this off and on for years and not only is it a fun way for my son to practice his least favorite subject, writing, it also provides us with a wonderful keepsake. You can make this super simple with a plain spiral notebook or much more elaborate with a fancy personalized journal. Either way, the concept is to have your child write to you about whatever he/she wants and then to for you to write back. This way, your kid is not only reading AND writing, he/she is doing it on a very personal level. And, as we know, the more personalized we can make the lesson, the more educational value will be found in it. My son, who is now 13 and HATES writing, truly loves when we do a back & forth journal. He especially loves asking me questions that I always take the time to answer and I love the fact that I have a precious journal to keep for the future. {Plus I seem to be able to show more interest in things like MineCraft, dragons and baseball through writing than I do in person.}

FOUR: FIND NEW SOURCES FOR RESOURCES

Sign your kids up for the summer reading program at the library. Or, finally look into their digital resources that you bookmarked in your web browser months ago {like me.} Do a deep dive into Netflix or Disney+ in search of a “new to you” educational series. Sign your kids up for an old fashioned magazine subscription or, instead, a modern subscription box {I don’t even need to subscribe to anything….we can just dig out the 24 editions of Zoobooks my son has accumulated but hasn’t read yet.} I always have a stash of ideas that I wish we could get to but save “for when we have more time”. Well, summer is the perfect time to dig into that stash!

FIVE: USE LEFTOVER CURRICULUM PAGES

This is an idea that I came by accidentally but have used every year since I discovered it. As the school year winds down, I always go through all of our son’s work in order to finalize grades and organize things for storage. Inevitably, I discover incomplete pages amidst his finished work, additional practice pages in the rear of his textbooks, alternate test versions in the teacher’s manual and fun/trivial items that I purposely had him skip in the interest of time. All of these items make great review pages during the summer months. And because they tie in perfectly to what was just learned during the school year, they are not busy work, but rather purposeful pieces redesigned to serve as a review.

What will you do with your kids to slow the SUMMER SLIDE? Let me know in the comments below!

Little Blue and Little Yellow: a St. Patrick’s Day Activity

February 27, 2020 by Katherine Wolfe 32 Comments

{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.}

Long ago, while living in a foreign country, I wanted to make sugar cookies and have my students decorate them as a fun little St. Patrick’s Day treat. But I could not find a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter anywhere so had to get creative with my approach. I ended up making simple round cookies and using a book by the classic author, Leo Lionni, to create an easy, fun and tasty St. Patrick’s Day activity!

And I have repeated the lesson dozens of times since then! I’ve done it for stateside First Grade students, MOPS toddlers, homeschool co-op children and, of course, my own kid. Everybody loves it! And it’s super duper easy! {And, better yet, it’s YUMMY!}

Materials needed:

round cookies

white canned frosting

blue and yellow food coloring and

a copy of Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lioni.