Fun with fungus!

It's been a very rainy week in Oklahoma, but today the sun came back out and, of course, we got outside. One of the first things my daughter noticed in the back yard was something reddish brown growing on a dead branch in the walnut tree.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's some kind of fungus," I replied.

"What kind is it?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know. I'm not a fungus expert," I said, much to her disappointment.

But of course, as a biologist I love an opportunity to explore science and nature, so I grabbed the camera and a ladder and we took a few pictures and collected a sample. Some of the fungus was slimy, but most of it had a smooth, velvety exterior with a gelatinous middle.

 

The fungi ranged in size from small, firm, cup-shaped structures about 1 cm in diameter to larger structures, maybe 10 cm across, droopy and slimy. The medium sized structures were shaped a lot like ears.

Not knowing much about mushrooms ourselves, and without an expert to turn to, we decided to look them up online. Our main goal was to identify the fungus. We found a couple of dichotomous keys, which we were able to use to narrow our search, and then we started looking through photos and descriptions of different species, until we found what seemed to be a good match.

We think the fungus we found is Auricularia auricula, a common jelly fungus known as the Jelly Ear, which can be found growing on decaying hardwood in much of North America. The characteristic ear shape, along with the gelatinous structure and other features suggest we are on the right track.

After more than two hours of research, we went back out to take down the ladder, and we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this fungus as the afternoon sun shone through and lit it up like something fairies would be proud to call their own.

Next, we're writing to Michael Kuo, who is a fungus expert, to see if maybe he will help confirm our identification. It was his website, MushroomExpert.com, that we found most useful in researching the fungus we found. I'll post an update if we get a reply.

All in all, it was a very fun day, spent doing some unexpected scientific research, learning about how dichotomous keys work, learning more about all sorts of beautiful fungi in the world and having yet another unplanned learning adventure!

How I helped my reluctant writer with Rory's Story Cubes

As a homeschooler, I am always searching for things that will help my kids get excited about learning. A few years ago, I stumbled upon an awesome tool to help my son become a better writer. My son is a reluctant writer. He has no trouble telling fantastic stories all day long, but when he has a pencil in hand his mind gets stuck. Using Rory’s Story Cubes, my son was able to break through his writer’s block and come up with a fictional tale that won him second prize at a regional writing contest.

What are Rory’s Story Cubes?

Rory’s Story Cubes are dice with pictures of odd things printed on the faces. There are nine cubes, each one with six unique faces. Some of the pictures include an alien head, flames, directional arrows, a foot, and an airplane.

You roll the dice, a few or all of them, and then make up a story based on what pictures pop up. You can play alone or with a group, and the possibilities are endless.

How does this game help reluctant writers?

Sometimes all a child needs is a good idea. Children have wild imaginations, and these dice are just vague enough that they can take a story in almost any direction. Once your kid picks one or two of the dice as a starting point, it is easy to follow the rest and make up an interesting tale.

Is this a game or a learning tool?

Rory’s Story Cubes are a game, but there is no winner or loser. There are no points to be tallied or prizes to be won. The whole point of the game is to just let imaginations run free and have fun. Players can take turn making up whole stories, or take turns telling parts of a story using a new die for each twist in the plot.

Best of all, you can now expand the learning and fun with additional packs that weren't available when we first found the game, such as the Actions pack, the Voyages pack and even an Enchanted pack for lovers of fairy tales.

Who can use this tool? 

The dice are a choking hazard, so small children should not use them unaccompanied by an adult. Other than that, anyone can use Rory’s Story Cubes to play or to learn. The cubes are all covered in pictures, so even a preschooler can look at them and make up a story. The whole game can fit in your pocket, so it can really go anywhere. Our whole family enjoys playing the game, and the kids like using it to write stories.  It’s a great game for all ages.


(This post contains affiliate links to the products described.)

Happy Pi Day!

What did you do today, Pi Day 2015? You're probably aware that this was the biggest Pi Day of our lifetime, and if you managed to do something significant to celebrate the occurrence of 3/14/15 with your friends and family, congratulations! You were wise enough not to let a very cool occasion pass you by.

Our local homeschool group celebrated the greatest Pi Day of the century with a sock hop and pie supper. The kids dressed in poodle skirts and rolled jeans with lots of great music from the 50s and 60s.

We had such a blast, rocking and rolling and twisting the night away, and best of all, we raised money to help benefit the local senior citizens center. It was an event the kids will always remember.

This was definitely the best Pi Day of my lifetime. I hope you enjoyed it, too!

Entertaining the kids when you're snowed in at home

The schools around here have been out quite a bit lately for snow days. Last week, we got so much slippery precipitation, we stood out in the front yard and watched a truck try to make it up our hill and slide back down three times before the driver gave up. And we live in the middle of town!

These snowy days are either dreaded or beloved by most families, depending on your point of view. Whether they are an unexpected day off to be celebrated or an unwanted challenge, snow days are definitely a change in the routine for those who live in typically warmer climates.

If your kids are stuck at home, indoors, because it is either too cold, too icy or too wet to be outside, you might be at a loss as to how to keep them entertained. As a homeschooler, I’m lucky. We tend to just do extra school work on bad weather days so we can take off when it’s nice outside.

But we do still get bored when it's too cold and wet to do much more than set foot outside, so I have a few tricks up my sleeve for entertaining the kids when we are confined indoors and tired of working on school.

An unexpected geography lesson

Last week, when my 7-year-old daughter came running up to me with a rock from my mom's garden, exclaiming, "It looks just like that state! The green one!" I knew exactly what she meant.

"Nevada!" I answered, with equal enthusiasm. "It looks like Nevada!" And it did.

We'd been playing Scrambled States of America (affiliate link), one of my kids' favorite games, a few nights before, and when my daughter spotted this particular rock, she remembered the shape of the state it resembled and the discovery excited us both.

Of course I have an atlas!

Remembering that I had an atlas in the van, I went and got it and gave it to her, asking if she'd like to look for more rocks that look like states.

"Yes!" she exclaimed and ran off, rock and atlas in hand to search for more.

By the end of the afternoon, she'd found at least half a dozen states, and wanted to keep looking, but it was getting too chilly and the sun was going down, so I promised to take her and her siblings down to the creek the next day to continue the search.

A whole week of geography

The next day, I printed a copy of the map from the Scrambled States game and then we went to the creek that borders my parent's pasture. There we spent a good part of the afternoon searching the banks for more rocks that resembled states, finding another dozen or so that were excellent approximations.

My daughter was so happy with her finds, she asked if she could paint the rocks to match the states on the map.

"Sure!" I said, really amazed that she'd managed to essentially come up with a whole unit study on geography all on her own.

We'd be working on learning about states for at least a week, maybe more, and she'd have some pretty cool souvenirs to keep for a long time to come.

"This is homeschooling," I thought. What had been a day off from planned studies turned into an amazing learning experience encompassing geography, reading and art that I would have never thought to introduce, but those unplanned homeschooling adventures are the very best part of this form of education.

Eagles and owls on hatch watch

One of our favorite things to do is watch live nest cams to observe birds in the wild. We've watched hummingbirds, eagles and owls for the past few years, and it's been so exciting to see the birds grow from hatchlings to fledglings right before our eyes.

A bald eagle I caught in flight behind my parents' house a few years ago.

Right now, two very popular bird cams are on hatch watch, with viewers eagerly awaiting the appearance of baby owls and eagles in Oklahoma and Georgia.

The OKC Owl Cam features an owl family in its fourth year nesting on a ledge on a homeschooling family's house in the Oklahoma City area. You can see what those birds are up to by clicking here.

The Berry College Eagle Cam features a pair of bald eagles in their fourth year of nesting on campus in a tall pine tree. You can watch the eagles day and night by clicking here.

Don't wait too long to check out these amazing bird cams. You'll be thrilled to see feedings in the nest, parents taking off and landing, and young birds growing toward maturity over the coming weeks. These live cams are an incredible resource for homeschoolers or anyone interested in learning more about birds.

Do you have a favorite wildlife cam? Please share it in the comments so we can check it out, too!

How to start a local homeschool group

Around five years ago, I decided to start a homeschool group in my community. There was a co-op that met nearby, but I wanted more of an a la carte style group, where people could participate in the activities that interested them and skip the ones they didn't without making a year long commitment.

The response was slow, but we soon grew to several families. Over time, dozens of families joined us, some staying and others moving on, until eventually we grew to a thriving group with nearly 100 families with no sign of slowing down.

Just a small fraction of the families in our group today.

Homeschooling is steadily growing all across the United States, with well over 2 million estimated homeschooled students today and continued growth expected. There are homeschool groups in most large communities across the country, and many areas offer more than one. Even rural areas often have at least one local homeschool group within an easy drive.

If you live in an area without a homeschool group, or the selection of nearby groups is simply not a good fit, you may be considering starting your own. Starting a homeschool group is not so hard, but it will take some patience and dedication. Here are some things to consider.

Puppy update - 4 1/2 weeks and 5 pounds!

The puppies are growing so fast, I can't even believe it. It's so much fun to watch them develop. Since the last update, they've gone from just barely toddling around to running all over the yard and climbing anything they can reach with their strong front paws.

It's hard to get six active puppies in one photograph!

At four and a half weeks old, they weighed in at around five pounds each, give or take a few ounces. The kids got to practice a little bit of math as they stepped on and off the scale, with and without a puppy in hand, to find out how much they weighed. It's very tricky to get a puppy to stand still on a bathroom scale all by itself, you know!

I thought I would share some photos with you and tell you about how the puppies' personalities are developing. Of course, those evolve daily, too.

Here they are, from smallest to biggest...

How to throw a homeschool Valentine's Day party

Each year one of the biggest events my homeschool group holds is our Valentine’s Day party. Parents, and even some of the kids, fondly remember Valentine’s Day parties from their days in public school and thoughts of pink frosted cupcakes, candy hearts and boxes full of valentines stoke their excitement.

From the moment our party was announced this year, families began submitting their RSVPs. Building on the success of last year's party, we're carrying over several of the favorite activites and adding a few new ones as we move to a larger space.

Here are some of the things our homeschool group has done to create successful Valentine's Day parties. I hope these tips can help you have a memorable celebration, too.

Yes, you can teach science at home

Let's talk science! I've noticed that one of the subjects parents are most nervous about teaching at home is science. Whether it is because of the equipment needed to do laboratory science or the fact that many people had limited exposure to math and science in their own education, parents are often nervous about taking on the STEM subjects on their own.

But you don't have to be afraid to tackle science. In fact, homeschooling can be an incredibly effective way to explore the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and math. 

Exploring, discovering, solving problems

According to Dr. Patricia Fioriello, “STEM education attempts to transform the typical teacher-centered classroom by encouraging a curriculum that is driven by problem-solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and require students to actively engage a situation in order to find its solution.”  

This type of exploratory learning is what kids do naturally when they are allowed to seek knowledge on their own.  Clearly, the engaged learning that is the goal of STEM education is possible to achieve at home, you just have to give your child access to the tools they need to learn.

Another unplanned learning adventure - PUPPIES!

When a sweet, but very timid young dog showed up at my folks' place a couple of weeks before Christmas, we didn't know what an amazing adventure would soon follow. This beautiful Australian cattle dog, or blue heeler, showed up in the field, hungry and cold but scared to approach the house. Eventually she was convinced that the people living there were kind.

Dogs are routinely taken out and dumped near rural farmhouses and on lonely country roads around here. It wasn't the first time a stray had stopped a while in the fields, but for whatever reason, it was the first time my parents decided, "This one's special."

But just days after they made their minds up that she could stay, it became very apparent that Blue was pregnant. Within another week and a half, the puppies arrived. 

Creating a cozy reading space for your child

I can't really say enough about the importance of reading. There are so many benefits that kids can reap, either by reading on their own or by being read to by a parent or loved one. Not only does reading help build cognitive and communication skills, it can also increase self-esteem and creativity, according to the Family Literacy Foundation. 

But how can you encourage your own kids to read more, especially if reading just isn't their favorite activity? One great way is to create a cozy reading space especially for your child. Here's how to do it right.

Writing for a magazine

I'm enjoying writing for Learning Tangent magazine. I've had articles featured in the last two issues, along with an advice column for homeschoolers. I get a lot of joy out of helping others learn to homeschool happily and successfully, even as I continue learning and growing with my own kids.

Here's a link to my latest article, in the Winter 2014 edition of Learning Tangent, entitled, "Reaching out to New Homeschoolers in Love." It's all about finding ways to break down arbitrary barriers that so often prevent new homeschoolers from finding the support they need in their local communities. I tried to provide a number of ideas that groups can implement, no matter how inclusive or exclusive they want to be, in order to help new homeschoolers in their area.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the magazine. It's free to read online, and there is a photography contest for homeschoolers detailed inside. I'd also love to hear from you if you have a homeschooling question you'd like to see answered in the Unplanned Homeschooler's column in the next issue!

Embrace change, become a butterfly

Sometimes we seek change and welcome it readily, and sometimes it is thrust upon us. For many of us, the decision to homeschool involved change, and often a response to changes over which we had no control.

Butterflies are such a beautiful portrait of change fully embraced. They, like so many other insects, live their early lives in a state much different from what they will eventually become. As caterpillars, butterflies inch along, focused mainly on eating whatever plant material they can reach, and eventually, as the approach maturity, on building their cocoon. 

It's a simple life, but one to which they are accustomed. That is, until everything changes.

Emerging in their adult form, butterflies have a whole new diet. They move in a whole new way. Their entire world is expanded, as suddenly the impetus to mate and to migrate, perhaps over thousands of miles, becomes a priority. The challenges they faced as a caterpillar are different than those they face as a butterfly, but so are the rewards.

I don't think caterpillars spend a lot of time or energy focused on their lives before the change. I think, instead, they fully embrace their new existence and move ahead, because they aren't likely to ever go back to the way life was before their change.

Homeschooling successfully takes almost as determined a mindset. If a bully was making your kids' lives miserable before, leave them behind and embrace new friends. If the curriculum was holding your child  down, put it behind you and set your child soaring with a curriculum that fits. If mama drama had you tied up in knots, celebrate your freedom and fly!

In other words, acknowledge the change that brought you to where you are today, but don't dwell on the past. Embrace your metamorphosis, and be the beautiful butterfly you were always meant to be. 

The best places to find bargains on old books

Several kids from our homeschool group volunteered with the Friends of the Library book sale at our local library today. They hauled boxes of books and helped set up the room for the big sale, which begins tomorrow. Of course, I couldn't resist taking a peek at the great books that the library had put aside to sell, and of course, I found a box full of selections I just had to take home with me.

I love books, especially old books. I'm so thankful for used books, and for the many ways they find new homes. I've found awesome old books in so many places. Here are a few favorites.

Halloween parties are my favorite homeschool events

Yesterday, our homeschool group had our fifth annual Halloween party, and like each year before, it was our biggest and most popular party by far. We love having parties for the kids. We do Christmas parties, Valentine's Day parties, Easter parties, etc. But it's Halloween that always draws the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds.

Roughly two-thirds of the guests at our Halloween party this year.

Here are a few reasons why Halloween parties are my personal favorite homeschool event of the year, and why your group might want to consider hosting one next year, too.

The weather is usually awesome

Late October, at least in Oklahoma, is almost always mild enough to sit outdoors in nothing heavier than a sweater and sometimes in just t-shirts and jeans. But it's cool enough that we aren't plagued by mosquitoes and flies, and the kids keep their costumes on for at least enough time to get a group picture before deciding they are too hot and stripping down to their play clothes.

Kids get to show their creative sides

I love seeing all the cool costumes on the kids in our group, and especially being able to talk to the kids and hear why they picked the outfits they decided to wear. This year we had historic characters, animals, modern real-life heroes, characters from movies, monsters, and more.

One thing I really like is that kids don't have to censor their costumes like they might in schools. The young police officer carried his side arm, the Civil War soldier carried his rifle, Merida was armed with her bow, the pirate queens held daggers, and Fin from "Sharknado" had his bloody chainsaw, just in case. There were many battles waged on the playground this year, but no one was injured in the melee.  

The food is fun

Halloween themed cookies, cupcakes and other treats make for a very festive array of snacks, and because everyone is not exhausted from holiday cooking that is still a few weeks away, they're excited to bring creative goodies to share.

There are treats aplenty

We always ask kids to bring candy or other treats to share with their friends, and a bag or bucket to collect their own. With 55 children at our party yesterday, there were so many treats some kids' bags wouldn't even hold them all!

Everyone has a great time

Our Halloween parties always seem to go on for hours and hours, and this year was no different. It's just so good to sit and visit with the other parents while the kids play imaginatively, go on expeditions together, and sneak pieces of candy from their buckets. Because the Halloween party is always our biggest event, we get to meet new members each year, too.  

Nearly 90 people attended our party this year. We ended the day exhausted, but happy, and really looking forward to the good times to come.

New homeschoolers, don't throw in the towel!

This year, I have seen far more new homeschoolers than ever before. But just a couple of months into the school year, so many are already frustrated to the point of considering giving up. and sending their kids back to school.

If you are among those ready to call it quits, because homeschooling is so much harder than you thought it would be, I just want to tell you, don't throw in that towel. Homeschooling is hard, but it's going to get easier.

We've all been there

I've been there. We've all been there! There's a wall that no one tells you about, that you hit a few weeks or a few months into homeschooling, where you just don't know if you made the right decision at all. Your carefully chosen curriculum isn't working for your kids, your kids are pushing your every button, you feel like you're getting no support, and you can't remember why you thought homeschooling was a good idea in the first place.

The reason you hardly ever hear about this is simple...

Homeschoolers become zombies to fight breast cancer!

This week, several members of my local homeschool group volunteered in the Thriller at Tenkiller 5K zombie run, hosted by the Beta Sigma Phi, Delta Kappa chapter at Northeastern State University. We were among the spooky, undead creatures whose duty it was to inspire the contestants to run for their lives.

This isn't the first time members of our homeschool group have engaged in community service and given their time for a good cause, but it certainly might have been the most fun!

On the morning of the race, my youngest woke up and practically leapt from her bed, exclaiming, "It's ZOMBIE DAY!" Indeed it was.

There are great opportunities in virtually every community for your kids to make a difference in the lives of others. And those opportunities not only give your family a chance to serve others, they give you ways to create unforgettable memories together!

We appreciate the ladies of Beta Sigma Phi letting us participate in this year's zombie run. We hope we helped make it a fun event for the runners, and that they will be encouraged to return next year and raise even more money to help local women who are battling breast cancer.

For the love of old dictionaries

One of my favorite books, when I was growing up, was an old, brown dictionary, at least three inches thick and older than my mother. It had been hers as long as she could remember. The cover was worn, and the spine was fragile. Any and every word I could think of was contained within the hundreds of delicate pages.

Someday, when my mother is gone, I will treasure her old dictionary, not only for the information it contains, but for the memories it holds.

This week, I read a post from a fellow homeschooler on Facebook. His 10-year-old son had found a 100-year-old dictionary at a used book store for $1, and stayed up late into the night looking up words. I loved the photo of this young man, immersed in his antique dictionary so much, I asked his dad if I could share it here. Look what great condition this old book is still in today!

Photo by Shane D. Manley

My own kids have good quality collegiate dictionaries, which I started them using very soon after they learned to read. Teaching them how to look up words the old fashioned way, without Google or an handheld device was not easy, but I felt that it was important that they have that tool at their disposal.

I hope hard bound, paper dictionaries never die. There is something special about using them. Maybe it's knowing that others before you have turned the same pages, perhaps to find the same words. Maybe it's being able to seamlessly browse and wander, learning new words you never set out to find. Or maybe it's knowing that if the grid ever went down, you'd have the skills to navigate through the building blocks of out language, in alphabetical order, without fumbling to find your way.

Whatever it is, I love dictionaries, especially old, well used ones. Do you?

Leaving public school is sometimes like escaping a cult

I wonder, how many homeschoolers actually felt like you were survivors of a traumatic experience when you pulled your kids out of public school? I did. In many ways, I felt like I'd escaped from a cult, where people with absolute power had control over me and my kids, where our entire community pressured us to stay and conform, and we were all suffering because of it.

Like many homeschoolers, I lived in a district where the schools were overcrowded, and where I had no choice over which elementary school my kids attended. I had to fight to get my kids the speech therapy they needed, and to keep them from being pigeon holed into classes where they didn't belong. We dealt with classroom bullies, an inattentive bus driver who lost my kindergartner, teaching methods that failed to engage my son, and lunch periods so short they threatened my daughter's health.

But we escaped! And although leaving behind the only form of education we had ever known was hard, it was the best decision my husband and I could have made for our kids.

Being able to talk about our bad experiences with the schools, and hear the stories of others who'd transitioned from public school to homeschooling made a tremendously cathartic for me. It was like group therapy, and I discovered that I was not alone. Many new homeschoolers feel exactly the same, as if they have just escaped from a controlling, unhealthy, often traumatic situation.

It's not just bashing public schools

Talking with others about the negative aspects of public school may be perceived as bashing by some, especially non-homeschoolers or homeschoolers who still have connections to their local schools. But for those who have been hurt at the schools, physically and/or emotionally, and may still be tormented by friends and family who are critical of their decision to homeschool, a place to vent is especially important.

That's what makes online and local support groups for new homeschoolers so critical. They need a safe place to vent about the system they left behind, and to learn what they need to know to move successfully into educating their children at home. They need support, not only in deciding what curriculum to pick and how to set up their school schedule, but in confirming that they made the absolute right choice for their family.

Publicly, openly acknowledging how bad public school can be helps those who left awful situations behind to work through the emotional trauma and crushing doubts that so often accompany leaving public school. To commiserate with other "survivors" of sorts helps work out the feelings of anger and loss, and then to move past the hurt and into the good parts of homeschooling.

We're not all at the same place on our homeschooling journey, but I guarantee you, without being able to talk about the negatives of public school with other people who'd been there when we got out, I would have never become the happy and successful homeschooler I am today!