The Carnival of Homeschooling – the Memorial Day Edition

Welcome to the 283^rd edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling.  We have a great assortment of posts this week.  We hope you enjoy browsing through the selection. 

Each year the United States has a federal holiday known as Memorial Day.  The holiday was originally created as a time to remember the death of thousands who died in the United States Civil War.  For the first couple decades it was called Decoration Day.   After World War I Memorial Day was changed to honor those Americans who died fighting in any war.  (For more details, check out Memorial Day Background.) 

The following images are from various US Federal Government web sites.

The US Department of Veteran Affairs explains Memorial Day as:

“Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while in the military service.  In observance of the holiday, many people visit cemeteries and memorials, and volunteers often place American flags on each grave site at national cemeteries.  A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.”

Freedom

Memorial Day is a good time to remember the sacrifice so many made that people might live free.

Our society today in many ways is freer than almost any society in history. In F is for Freedom, the Crazy Homeschool Mama found out her value the freedom to homeschool.

Blessings

Mrs. White has a great point in reminding us to be thankful for our blessings and shares some tips of how to create an environment of a romantic home in The Romance of Home, from The Legacy of Home.

Why I’m glad I was homeschooled has some of the reasons why Meghan feels homeschooling is a great option, posted at Home Free School.

Sacrifice

Memorial Day is a time of remembering the sacrifice others made that we might live.  Homeschoolers make sacrifices so that their children might live better.  Homeschoolers also make the effort to help each other.

In One Hard Thing About Homeschooling,  ChrisitneMM of The Thinking Mother discusses one homeschooling con. Or is it really a con after all?

Cultivating Character: It Takes Time reminds us that homeschooling provides the TIME it takes to focus on essential character development!  Posted at Cultivated Lives.

In Making School Something With Which They Look Forward Phyllis has some great ideas on how to make learning fun, posted at All Things Beautiful.

Jimmie of Jimmie’s Collage shares some tips for Curriculum and Methods for Homeschooling Children who Have Trouble Paying Attention.

Maureen shares Free Online Resources for Teaching Anatomy, a nice long list, at her blog Homeschool Mo.

In Homeschooling as the Next Step on the Continuum of Attachment Parenting Patti, the Jazzy Mama, shares some of the resources she found that helped her to develop a deeper understanding of Attachment Parenting older children.  For her, keeping her children out of school was the natural next step.

In our post on Homeschooling and Foster Care - Part 2 Janine writes about some of the sacrifices we've made to provide foster care.

Vacation

Many people take advantage of the three day weekend by going on a vacation.

Dena shares how she turned a Vacation into a Planning Project  where her children had some excellent life learning experiences.  The post is up at PJs All Day.

Pamela and her children took a road trip.  In Feeling Pioneer-ish she shares some of the lessons she learned.  Posted at Blah, Blah, Blog.

Helena  is amazed by how much her children learned over a weekend in why? where? who? what? when?, and it is a long list.  This is why happens when you have an attitude of loving to learn.

Nature

Memorial Day is when many go camping for the first time each year.  People head for the parks to get away from the craziness of work and city life.

Melissa shares an epiphany she had with Her Nature Journal, at educating mother.  I’ve always thought nature journals were good for children, now I can see how they are also good for adults.

Kat suggests that all homeschoolers are "green-ribbon" schools, and wonders if we ought to all apply for the “Green Ribbon School” award, at her blog No Fighting, No Biting!

Conversations with a Rockhound describes Michelle’s search to find someone knowledgeable about rocks and minerals when she and her children were starting a unit study, and the subsequent meeting him.   Posgted at Homeschooling and Homesteading in the Present.

There is so much you can learn from simple ever day events.  Ann reveals some of the things she and her daughters learned in the Outdoor Hour Challenge Spring Series #4: Wildflowers-Dandelions, posted at Harvest Moon by Hand.

Decisions

As Spring draws to an end, people start making decisions about how to spend Memorial Day.  Through the summer many parents struggle with the decision to pull their children from public schools and become homeschoolers.

The inSANEmom has just taken the first steps to homeschooling.  In It’s Official she shares her worries and hopes, at Schola Abdico.

Linda Dobson provides a humorous approach to deciding if You Might Be Making a Mistake While Considering Homeschooling if…, over at Parent At The Helm.

Escaping the Public School Paradigm reminds us that as we seek to give our kids the best education possible, there are many constraints from the public school system that we need not bring into our homeschool.   Posted at Homeschool Roundup.



Eating

Friends and families gather on Memorial day.  Often the main event rotates around eating.  Food is cooked on the grill.  Food is also important to homeschoolers.

Bringing kids into the kitchen at appropriate times is a great way to involve them in daily activities, reinforce responsibility, and teach them invaluable life skills. Jane shares practical ideas for including your kids, at The Unofficial Homeschooler.  The Hersheys Milk Chocolate Fractions Book is a good tool for all learners especially if you provide your own chocolate, by the Home School Dad.

Summer

Memorial Day has become the unofficial start of summer.

How we homeschool changes for most of us as we transition from spring to summer.  Christy explains their Summer Schedule, posted at the Eclectic Momma.

With The Best-Laid (Curriculum) Plans: Year 1 Jennifer discloses what they will be doing starting in June:  "This curriculum incorporates the best I've found in a year of research, including my Charlotte Mason and Classical leanings."  Posted at Adventures in MamaLand.

Conni has an example of how learning doesn’t have to stop for summer.  Science in the Summer.  It sounds like a grand adventure.  Posted at Mrs MamaHen.com.

As we transition into summer Annie reveals her Summer Activity List.  She has tasks for her children, and for herself.  Posted at Learn at Every Turn.

With Summer Plans Part 1: Dream Lists Annie Kate makes the point that to have a memorable summer, it helps to start with dreams.  Posted at Tea Time with Annie Kate.

History

The original intent of the holiday has been lost.  It used to be that most towns had celebrations and parades.  Almost everyone would visit the local cemeteries.  Now few towns have gatherings to remember those in died in war.  Few parades occur.  Cemeteries are pretty much ignored.

Famous Trees For Nature Study in Homeschools by Robin has some interesting facts about trees and some great resources, posted at Crack the Egg.  Some of these trees date back hundreds of years.

It is important to capture our own history for our posterity.  My daughters find my school pictures interesting.  In Homeschooling High School - senior pictures Elena writes about an inexpensive way for homeschoolers to have senior pictures, at her blog My Domestic Church.

Many homeschoolers try to develop in their children a love for learning.  We want learning to be a life-long habit.  Marlis shares an example of this in her report of Famous People – Queen Victoria 1819 – 1901, at The Itchy Homeschooler.

Miscellaneous

Memorial Day means many things to many people.  It may be the day someone first meet their future spouse.  It may be when someon learned of some good news, or sad news.  Likewise homeschooling means many things to many people. 

In Science and the Library Annette writes about a science experiment her son conducted, from A Net in Time.

I love it when children think out of the box.  Well, yeah, that would work too… is Christine’s account where one child had a humorous solution for answering the question “How many hairs are on your head?”   This was posted at Our Curious Home.

In Trust Your Child, Trust Yourself, Barbara Frank explains why you should trust your own instincts and your child instead of the "experts."

With Home Spun comic strip #616 Cristina explains how they struggled with their son over the difference between card playing and role playing, over at Home Spun Juggling.

In what's important - age or learning ?  Divya has a good message that we should focus on helping our children and not push them to master material before they are ready; posted at Inside the child.

In Terrific Treasuries: James Herriot`s Treasury for Children the Read Aloud Dad says “I'm panic-stricken that I will not be able to tell you how gentle, humane and compassionate are the stories and how superbly illustrated they are.”

As a software engineer I find this pretty exciting.  Misty’s 5-year-old wrote his first computer program with Scratch, and it looks like  something most children could learn to do.  From: Homeschool Bytes.

In See Jane Run - See Jane Dump The Baby Judy shares her concerns about public schools teaching children to have abortions.  Posted at Consent of the Governed.

Kendra writes about her Homeschool Conference Plans, it's about creating your own conference at home if you can't afford to go to one or don't have a conference in your area.  This is from the Aussie Pumpkin Patch.

In Cooperating and Conferences Nancy acknowledges that she feels humble know the Holy Spirit helps with teaching.  Also, she’ll be at the ChildLight USA conference in NC.  Posted at Sage Parnassus.

If you have enjoyed this carnival, please spread the word.  Please mention the carnival on your blog, Facebook, Twitter and other similar places.  You can use the icons at the end of this post.

You can also help promote the carnival by adding the carnival images. Learn how by going here.

Go here for the archives of previous carnivals.

Next week the carnival will be held at HomeschoolBuzz.com.

If you are interested in submitting a post for a future carnival, click here for information.

We thank everyone who has helped out. Thank you to all the participants in this carnival. And thanks to all those who help promote the Carnival of Homeschooling.