Our Worm Bin: An Update

I had a comment asking for an update on our worm bin.  We got a Worm Factory about three months ago and stocked it with 500 red wriggler worms.  We are not squeamish and keep it in oun den, next to a love seat.  I had a homemade bin in the past, so was not new to raising worms. 

The bin is doing great.  There are lots of worms of different sizes, so I assume they are reproducing well.  I added the second tray on a couple of weeks ago, and many of my worms have already moved up there.  My youngest child enjoys feeding his banana peels and apple cores to the worms.  I am putting more and more of our kitchen scraps in there, and I think eventually it will be able to absorb the majority of them.  Some kitchen waste will still need to go in the outdoor bin, such as garlic, onion, and citrus pellings.  I tear up lots of cereal box-type cardboard for the bedding.

There are structured "worm activities" out there, but I haven't looked into doing them. The children just know the worms exist, they eat are garbage, and produce castings that we can use in the garden.  Worms are a fun addition to any homeschool (or home). 

Homeschool Day Book: A Review

Record keeping is not my strong suit.  As I've written before, I've been experimenting with Evernote to keep of a monthly list of our activities.  However, I was not completely satisfied with it because it took time to get the table formatted, and it couldn't be easily separated out into other types of reports.

Our school year "officially" started on Tuesday, and Monday night I stayed up getting things organized and planned for the week.  I decided to take a new look at homeschool record keeping software and printable planning pages.  

I came across a number of options, most of which I did not like. The programs I looked at had features that were not relevent to my family, such as grades and detailed lesson plans.  I am sure that these types of programs are invaluable to parents who make detailed plans well in advance and want to keep track of grades.  I looked at paper planners, but I was able neither to find or make something that looked like it would be easy to work in the moment and convenient to look back on at the end of the year. 

Then I came upon Homeschool Day Book.  I downloaded the free trial.   I think it's a keeper.  I like it much, much better than my own Evernote system, or any other system I've tried.  I've made a daily checklist to keep on a clipboard to check off through the day what the children do, and then I can quickly enter it into Homeschool Day Book at the end of the day, week, or month (yikes, hopefully not a whole month at once). 

Here are the pros for Homeschool Day Book:

• It is extremely intuitive to use.  It didn't hurt my brain to figure out how to use it.   A person with basic computer literacy will figure out how to use all the features of the program within 5-10 minutes. 
• It is easily customizable.  You can enter your own subjects and categories how you like. 
• If you enter an activity for the day, then it automatically updates your "attendance" record, marking that child as present for the day.  
• When you enter an activity, you can enter it for one or more children at the same time AND one or more subjects at the same time.  This is awesome, because we have so much overlap.  
• To create a report, you select the time period that you want, select the child or children, and select all subjects or one particular subject. 
• At first, I was sad that there was not a "book list" or "field trip" option because I wanted to keep track of  books I read outloud to the kids and print that out separately.  Then I realized that I can just call them subjects, so that I can print out separate reports for them.  Each time we finish a book, or go on a field trip, I can check that field.
• You can also keep track of how much time is spent on a particular activity/subject, but I'm not interested in that.  It would be useful for states where parents are required to log the hours children spend in "school."  

Here are the cons:

•  It's pretty bare bones with few frills. This is a good thing in some ways, but it also means that there just aren't that many features to figure out.  
•  I am not crazy about the way the reports look.  If you create a report for both your kids, for instance, it doesn't indicade which kid particpated in which activity, nor does it indicate the subjects that you checked.  You can print out reports by kid and by subject, however.  Also, there is a lot of white space that shows up if you create the report with description.  

Overall, this program is fun and easy to use, very customizable, ideal for relaxed, eclectic, and/or unsnchoolers.  I think it would be invaluable to someone who needs to keep track of how much time their children are spending on "school" to meet state requirements.  It's definitely more fun, faster, and convenient to enter data into the program than it was to enter it into a homemade table or spreadsheet.  It costs $39, which is not cheap, but it is comparable or less than similar programs.  If I have the time, I will use the reports to create my own, prettier reports of our homeschool.  If I don't have time, the reports generated by Homeschool Day Book will suffice, printed by child and by subject.

I'm happy about this convenient way to keep track of what we do.  Like I always say, the children learn the same whether or not I write down what they do, but it certainly gives me a feeling of satisfaction to be able to look back and see all that they accomplished. 

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of Homeschool Day Book in exchange for writing a review (positive or negative) on my blog. 

Evernote and Homeschooling: An Update

As it turns out, I'm increasingly finding Evernote to be a useful tool.  It's much more convenient than bookmarking a site.  It's nice that you don't have to worry about the site disappearing because you've saved the information on the Evernote.  All you do is highlight the information from a site that you want to save, click on the little Evernote button that gets added to your browser, and then tag the site.  I use tags such as homeschool, homeschool 2012-2013, Spanish vocabulary, science experiments, history, etc.  I learned today that you can nest your tags, so that pretty much all tags related to homeschooling are now a sub-tag of homeschooling. 

I always find cool crafts on the Internet, but then I have trouble finding them in my bookmarks.  Now, I have them saved in Evernote and categorized seasonally.  I'm making my plans for the year in Evernote.  I was making our weekly schedule in Open Office, but I may make that in Evernote too. 

As I wrote before, I'm also keeping a monthly record of our activities with a table in Evernote.  I admit that it's impossible to keep track of everything educational that the boys do, but it certainly does make me feel better to look back and see what we have done.  I tend to stay so focused in the present and the future that sometimes I look back on the blur that was my month and think, Did we do anything at all?  Jotting down what we did is really helpful to me.  The boys learn the same whether I write it down or not.
Although it's not directly related to homeschooling, I'm really happy with organizing recipes with Evernote.  I've even typed some in, and it's very convenient to me to just pull up the recipe on computer and consult it as needed.  If I get an iPod Touch, I'll be able to pull up the recipes right in the kitchen. 

I have my recipes tagged under both recipe, and under their main ingredients (which are now subtags of recipe.)  I'm planning to use Evernote to plan our monthly meals.  I am a big fan of freezer cooking.  I am lucky to be married to a man who enjoys cooking, so I only have to make four meals a week (Monday through Thursday).  That means I could cook 32 meals and have enough for 2 months! 

Record Keeping: Simple Portfolios and Scrapbooks

One thing I've done for the past two years is put much of Bee's work in a 3-ring binder, for each school year.  I have it divided into three categories:  Math, Language, and Other.  For his first grade year, I put nearly all of his written work in there because we just didn't do a ton of written work.  For his second grade year, I've put all of his writing samples and the weekly math page that we did, but I had to thin out and just use what I thought were the best/most interesting/most representative samples.

I'm also making a binder of the work that Bug brought home from preschool (drawings, letter and number tracing, Montessori metal insets, etc.).  I put little projects he's done around the house as well.  His stuff is kind of scattered, so I'm gradually collecting it.  Since he'll be only homeschooling next year, I'll start a new binder for him.

I'm going to a "crop" this weekend.  For those who don't know, that's where a bunch of scrapbookers get together in a big room and work on projects.  I'm hoping to make simple 8.5 x 11 pages of the field trips that Bee (and Bug to a lesser extent) went on the past two years.  I will then make a copy of them.  The originals will go in a special family homeschool scrapbook.  The copies will go in their binders for the year that they occurred.

I keep photo pages, certificates, and the most special projects in plastic sheet protectors in the notebok.  The protectors are especially good for little booklets.  Many pages just get 3-hole-punched and stuck in the binder.  I am probably saving too many things, but at least they are neatly put away in a binder, rather than scattered throughout the house. 

I start the school year the in June before the real school year starts.  So, most everything that happens in the summer before the school year goes in the binder for the upcoming school year.   Other families might find it makes more sense to start in the fall.  Or those who eschew the concept of the traditional school year might start in January.  And there's no rule that these binders need to be "one-year" binders.  Families who are better at throwing things out might have a binder that spans several years. 

This portfolio/scrapbook could also easily be put together by non-homeschooling parents who want to save momentos and work from each school year. 

List of Items I include (or plant to include) in portfolios: 

• Photos of museums and cultural attractions we visited (we went many places locally, and Bee and his dad travelled to both NYC and DC this year!)
• Photos of fun days (like when we went to theme parks during school hours)
• Photos of them and their homeschool friends at park days
• Photos of  extracurricular activities
• Writing samples:  I treasure these; it is so special to look back on what children thought was interesting to write about.  I love to keep the scraps of paper I find lying around the house with things that they spontaneously created. 
• Interesting workbook pages
• Art work (larger pieces can be photographed, and the photograph included)
• Projects made at camps and classes
• Certificates/ribbons given upon completion of a program or winning a prize
• Brochures of Places we Visited
• This coming year, I hope to include in each binder a list of the things that we did each month, from my Evernote.  

They learn the same whether or not I keep records!  But it is nice for all of us to look back on what we've done to get a sense of accomplishment.  

Homeschool Record Keeping with Evernote

I am continuing to play around with Evernote.  I decided to use it to keep a list of the boy's activities.  We do a ton of stuff, but I forget everything we do.  Just because I didn't keep track of it doesn't mean we didn't do it, but I find it satisfying to look back and see all that we did.

The first year I homeschooled, I kept a list in paper planner of as much stuff related to education as possible.  I find it useful to start a new list each month.  Below is an example.  Our summer schedule is pretty laid back.  I know there are some things that I forgot to put on, and that's okay.  I can easily add to it as I remember things, such as looking at the dinosaur exhibit in the museum.  I won't update the table on this blog, because it's too dificult, though. 

Homeschool Record June 2012

Date	Bee	Bug	Activity	Description	Subject
various	X	X	Neighborhood Pool	Swimming!  Bug learned how to swim on his own.	P.E.
6/23	X	X	Fossil Hunting	Outing: Park rangers gave a talk on the climate and history of the area; the boys got to collect fossils and bring some home.	science
6/25-6/29	X		Camp	Dinosaur Camp at children's museum	science
6/25- 6/29		X	Camp	Animal Habitat Camp at children's museum	science
various	X	X	Gymnastics	The boys finished their gymnastics classes at each performed in the recital.	P.E.
various		X	Ballet	Bug finished up his ballet class and performed in the dance recital.	P.E., Fine Arts
various	X	X	Spanish	Review, music	Spanish
various	X		Math facts	Review	Math
various	X		German	Review	German
various	X		Spelling	Review	Language
various	X		Watership Down	listening to me read book	Language
various	X		Band of Brothers	finished listening to dad read book	Language

I think Evernote is going to be a good organizational tool for me. I'll post an example of my record keeping for the regular school year in a few months. 

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid.  That's what I had to tell myself.  I'm supposed to be using the summer to organize, to gather and prepare materials, and to just generally get everything ready for the upcoming school year. 

ONE of the many things I'd like to do is make language cards.  These will be laminated photo cards that I can use with both children for auditory games to increase their Spanish vocabulary.  (I do not do reading or writing in Spanish with them and do not intend to until they are much older).  I can also make English labels for the cards, creating some Montessori-style reading activities for Bug, and he can use them when he's ready. 

I bought a beautiful book called Photos for Building Language Skills.  It has 900 color photos, divided by category.  The categories are actions/verbs, animals, bathroom, body, clothing, colors and shapes, emotions, food, furniture and household items, holidays and seasons, kitchen, money, music, nature and weather, opposites/adjectives, people and family, places, positional concepts, rooms at home, school tools, sign language, survival signs, time, toys, and transportation. 

Some of the cards I will not use.  We don't learn sign language, so I don't need sign language cards.  However, the vast majority of the cards I'll be able to put to great use. 

Back to the keep it simple part:  I had planned to pick out pretty scrapbooking paper for each category, mount the cards onto it, and then laminate them.  However, I realized that all the pages of the cards have a unique background color already on them.  Therefore, all I need to do is use my paper cutter to cut the cards out and then laminate.  That will save me a ton of time--cutting the backings and gluing the cards on them would have taken me many additional hours. 

I'm estimating that I'll be making at least 800 cards!  I do not actually know the Spanish words for all of the cards, although I know most, so I'll have to make myself a cheat sheet as well.  I think I'll cut and laminate my cards first, make cheat sheets that can be foled up, and store each set of cards and cheat sheets in slider sandwich baggies.  I also may need smaller ziplock sandwich baggies to separate the cards we've worked with from the new cards. 

And that's only one of the many things I want to do this summer.

Venus Transit: Ideal vs Real

I imagine the ideal family, homeschooling or not, preparing for the Venus transit, explaining in advance to their children what it means.  They would prepare for the event by figuring out the best and most enriching public viewing area to attend and RSVP early.  They would all go together, smiling and happy, possibly holding hands.  They might even set up a telescope in their yard.  Everyone would be thrilled by this rare astronomical phenomenon, and it would spark an interest in their children that would lead to a unit study in advanced astrophysics. 


Back to reality, our family observed the Venus Transit the other day.  My husband has a vague interest in astronomy and saw the last one back a few years ago.  The day before this year's transit, he began complaining about how he didn't RSVP in time at the university to see it there, how to see it at one of the local museums would cost $30 a person, and so on.  He complained that he did not have a tripod for his high powered binnoculars.  I mentioned snidely that he had many years to prepare for this moment, and it was too bad he chose to wait until the last minute. I, the homeschooling mom, had no interest in planning for this Venus transit thing.  I had better things to worry about, like fitting in enough theme park visits this summer. 


On the day of the transit, I assured my husband, still sulky about the Venus transit happening and not being able to see it, that it would be too cloudy to see anyway.  "Too bad for all the suckers who paid for the dinner!" I thought to myself.  "It's just a dot," I told him.  "It's not like anything's exploding.  Who cares?"  He went upstairs to tell Bee about it and received a similar (rude) response. 


Well, my mathematician/physicist husband used his cute head and ended up projecting the Venus transit onto a card by propping his binnoculars on a lawn chair.  Bug was out there with him and was happy to see it.  Bug (age 4) can identify all the planets and is very interested in them.  Then I came out and decided it was pretty cool after all, followed by Bee who thought the same thing.  He can also identify the planets by looking at pictures.  I thing planets are pretty, but I get confused sometimes trying to tell them apart.  Clearly, my children take after their dad in many ways. 


I was very impressed with my husband's makeshift projection system.  He's quite the homeschooler.