Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Homeschooling Meme - thanks Jen!

OK - had no idea what a "meme" was! But I'm learning quick :-) I've been tagged by Jen, over at Jen's Busy Days, fellow book lover and bookcase coveter. This meme seems to focus on "resources" - a topic of interest for many homeschoolers, but I have my own thoughts on the matter (as you will read below):

1) One homeschooling book you have enjoyed:
I've got lots and read lots (surprise!), but the original and the best was Creative Homeschooling for Gifted Children by Lisa Rivero. It gave me homeschooling as an option for educating my gifted kids. It started the journey and for that, I will be forever indebted.

2) One resource you wouldn't be without:
Oh, that's an easy one! My laptop! The world at my fingertips :-)

3) One resource you wish you had never bought:
I wish I hadn't got carried away and bought the whole kit that went with Acid, Acid, Everywhere. It didn't contain anything we didn't already have (or could have easily got) and it cost too much ($150). The unit of work was OK (problem-based learning), but the kit was a waste of money.

4) One resource you enjoyed this year:
So U.S. based - it's the middle of the school year and we never stop learning! Anyhoo, when I asked self-confessed non-writer Video Boy what he enjoyed most about homeschooling last week, he said "Freewriting". What? So, I nominate Brave Writer's "Writer's Jungle" as the resource enjoyed most! Great Jabberwocky activity in there too :-)

5) One resource you will be using next year:
Well, we are still in the middle of "this year", but one resource I can see us still utilising next year will be Mapping the World by Heart, slowly but surely learning more about the world around us.

6) One resource you would like to buy:
Mmm, this is tricky, because I feel like we have lots of resources already and I'm definitely moving away from pre-packaged curriculum - I'm of the opinion successful homeschooling is less about the resources and more about the atmosphere. I wouldn't mind some decent chemistry lab equipment, but mostly we can get by with equipment we already have at home. Might look into more Michael Clay Thomson - but not convinced about the obssession with grammar - more interested in the academic writing. We'll always be buying new books to read and new board games to play, though :-)

7) One resource you wish existed:
I wish we had enough money to get my cleaner back, but I'll gladly trade that for being able to stay home with my kids (they just have to help me clean up now).

8) One homeschooling catalogue you enjoy reading:
Don't read any?! I'm enjoying looking through the Games Paradise website for board games for Wombat Girl's upcoming birthday - does that count?

9) One homeschooling website you use regularly:
I used to go to Rockpool a bit, but I prefer reading your wonderful, inspiring Blogs lately.

10) Tag other homeschoolers:
Do I have to? Feel free to do your own meme and let me know in the comments so I can check out your answers :-)

2 comments:

  1. What's a Meme?

    Dumb question from an Internet geek, but enquiring minds want to know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture", but more specifically on the internet "an idea that spreads quickly via the internet "in the form of a hyperlink, video, picture, website, hashtag, or just a word or phrase". In this context it's one of those sets of questions that get emailed/facebooked/blogged around. Glad to be of service!

    ReplyDelete

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