Pop Art

messy stuff

Last week EM attended Kids' College at Susquehanna University for his third year. JT thought last summer was his last opportunity because he had reached the age limit. But then, <Hooray!>, they added a teen camp week and he was allowed to attend again this summer. JT's week of camp was the last week of June. As this was the first year for the teen camp, it was only half a day long. EM went for the full day version. Both of the boys love the Kids' College environment. The instructors are excellent teachers who do their best to make learning fun and sometimes that means things get messy.

Every year the camp is broken up into two parts, the morning sessions and the optional afternoon session. This year's morning sessions were Pop Rules!, Into the West, and Imagineering. The afternoon session is a more in depth focus on one topic. This year EM chose the Pop Tools! art class over the Curtain Up! acting class. This session was an extension of the morning class Pop Rules! that explored the culture of the United States during the decades of the1950s to the 1990s. The afternoon class specifically looked at the art of the decade of the day. Monday was action painting, explored through the work of Jackson Pollock. As a parent, I was a bit irritated by the state of EM's clothes when I picked him up, but as a parent, I was also thrilled by the excitement he expressed over what he had learned in that class.

No surprise there!

Once I saw the theme, I had fun guessing what kind of art they would be doing the following day. I hit it right on the nose with Andy Warhol for Tuesday. EM made a cool print of Coke cans. Unfortunately, I can't share because he worked his name into the image. But, I can show you the signs the teacher made for the art show the students held for the parents on Friday.

crafty work

On Wednesday they worked on crafts of the 1970s and EM tried his hand at macrame. He also insisted that he wear his 1960s beads and bracelets that he made Tuesday. I drew the line at the headband. I may have a budding hippie in my home!

Thursday they focused on graffiti art. Each child was given a piece of plywood and cans of spray paint. They worked outside and wore eye protection. EM told me he only did a little painting because he didn't like the fumes. I'm surprised he did it at all considering his sensitivities to smells.

I'm a wall artist!

The final day was his favorite. The theme was futurism. EM made a robot from wood scraps using a glue gun. When I arrived for the art show, he proudly told me, "I got to use a hot glue gun and I burned myself two times! It was great!"

It's sometimes hard for me to find things that really excite EM. He's probably the most observant, yet quietest child out of my three. But this week it was obvious that art, especially art involving things like dangerous hot glue guns, was right up his alley. His recent success in a pottery class also points to his ability with the arts.

one-eyed robot

I will be looking into further opportunities for him this school year. I can handle some art instruction, but I think it may be time to outsource to help him develop his talent in this area.

As always, the end of Kids' College week was a let-down for the boys. I'm so thankful to have such a terrific program available in our area. Can't wait for next summer so they can get messy again!

High School Planning

little progress

Not much progress may be being made on the mess in my classroom, but there is still a lot of planning getting done in my mind. My husband and I went to the Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Accreditation Agency High School at Home conference last week. Try to say that five times fast! We decided that we will definitely be enrolling the boys in their program. In PA, homeschoolers can be granted a state recognized diploma from several different organizations. Each organization has slightly different requirements, but all meet the state requirements of four years of English, three years of math, science, and social studies, and two years of arts and humanities.

Here's how the PHAA program works. When JT is entering 9th grade, we will enroll him for the fee of $45. Each year of high school he will be required to track his progress in one of many ways. A credit can be granted by completing over two-thirds of a textbook, 120 daily logged entries, 120 hours of logged study, a ten page research paper, completed college course, completed audited AP course + exam, or any other creative way we can show his work. At the end of each school year, we will meet with our usual evaluator. She will review his work, grant credit for the classes, write a narrative report on his achievements, and send it all to PHAA for recording and approval. At the end of the four years, he will be granted a diploma, signed by the evaluator, the Executive Director of PHAA, and the supervisor of the home education, which would be me. We will pay a $55 fee and he will receive his diploma at an actual graduation ceremony. This diploma will allow him to qualify for PHEAA grants and loans. A transcript is created from the course work that the student has completed. This transcript can include letter grades or be just a pass or fail system. Letter grades are preferred in order to be able to calculate GPA for college admissions and scholarships. Transcripts can be sent to colleges for a $5 fee. The special thing about PHAA's program is that they will also send the narrative letters the evaluator wrote for each of the four years. The transcripts will also include any of the student's extra-curricular activities.

PHAA diplomas have a good name with many universities. One reason is their thorough English credit requirements. Each year the student must read at least 25 books, including three classified as classics. They must write at least four compositions, one being 10 pages or more. Those compositions must include rough drafts showing correction or work through over 1/4 of a language or grammar textbook. Finally, the student must give at least one speech during the year to a group outside the immediate family members. This attention to language has given PHAA a great reputation for producing great students.

One more thing that PHAA has available are their online AP courses. One of our sessions at the conference was a panel discussion by the teachers of the AP courses. Any homeschooler anywhere in the United States (and some abroad) can sign up for these classes. There is an actual application process, so they have high standards for these classes. It looks like a great program that I hope to have both of the boys participate in when they reach the appropriate level.

I really feel like this program will be a good fit for our family. The requirements are flexible, yet strict enough that I will have measurable goals to meet. Having the outside influence will help me to motivate the boys to get their work done and do it to a higher standard than they might have if they were only worried about my approval. I had been starting to worry a bit about how I was going to handle the boys' high school years. I'm no longer worried. In fact, I'm more excited than ever about the opportunities I see in their future.

The State of Things

red skies at night

The same thing happens to me every summer. We end our school year nice and early in May. I tell myself I need to sit down immediately and organize the things we did into some kind of summary before I forget what we covered. Then the freedom I feel when I no longer need to spend my weekends planning for the next school week takes over my entire life and nothing gets done.

I did manage to return all of our borrowed text books to their appropriate schools. I did drop off our portfolios for this year and affidavits for next year. I did clean up all of the finished work and art projects out of the classroom. So things could be worse. I am committing myself to a minimum of one hour a day working on cleaning out the old books and organizing things for next year. One hour...that shouldn't be too hard, right?

In addition to the boys having various learning opportunities outside of our home this summer, my husband and I are also spending a day in July becoming more educated. At our end of year meeting, our homeschool evaluator recommended that I look into the Pennsylvania Homeschoolers Accreditation Agency. PHAA is just one of the diploma granting organizations in Pennsylvania. We will be attending their High School at Home conference to get a clearer idea of how the program works. Our evaluator is already associated with this organization so she would be able to help us meet the requirements for the boys to get a state recognized diploma. I have done some research and found that many colleges do not require homeschoolers to have diplomas. But I still feel it might be a good idea to explore the possibility.

I will be taking a few weeks off from my usual Friday posts. After the conference, I'll share what I have learned and also fess up whether I have kept the promise to spend an hour of each day working on my homeschooling projects.

Bored?

temporary captive

I have been blessed with children who rarely seem to be bored. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have heard JT say he needs something to do in his twelve years. I don't know if my kids are just easily entertained or if they are worried I'll find something close to work for them to do if they claim boredom. Whatever the reason, I'm not going to complain!

We finished our official schooling nearly a month ago. Since then the boys have kept themselves busy. After breakfast they usually play outside or with LEGOs or other projects they have created. If it's a rainy day, they will sometimes watch some educational movies. They are currently viewing the BBC series Life with David Attenborough for about the millionth time. How many nine year old boys can tell you the name of their favorite documentary narrator? Following lunch and their daily chores, the boys spend some time on the computers. Surprisingly enough, they don't always use all of their allotted screen time. In fact, this week I found them outside working on an interesting project during the time of day when computer use is permitted.

assignment

Apparently JT thought EM needed to acquire a little more insect knowledge. I found them on the front porch with a collection of bottles filled with various live insect specimens. JT had written up this assignment sheet for EM. They had all of our insect identification books on the porch and EM was diligently searching for answers to the questions JT had assigned. When I saw them working, I remembered a blog post I had recently read at The Home School Scientist.  The post, titled, Benefits of Insects and FREE Insect Worksheet, had a free downloadable identification worksheet that I had saved for future use. I sent JT in the house to print off a few copies for his brother.

graded work

After EM finished his first worksheet, JT sat down and graded it for him. He is a rather critical evaluator. I have to remind him that EM is only nine and will not have the same level of knowledge about insects because it is not his most passionate subject. JT has a wealth of knowledge about all things creepy. In fact, he's my go-to guy when I need to identify something. Just the other day, he set me straight on the definition of a true bug when I had my facts wrong. "Mom...true bugs are defined as true bugs because they have a proboscis!"  


When I see the boys doing independent, structured learning I often wonder if we had sent them through the typical path of schooling, would they still spend their free time engaged in this way? Would they be happy to print out worksheets and grade each other's work or would they drift to computer and television in their free moments?

And finally, if I stay out of their way, how much more will they learn?

Summer Has Arrived

Ferris Wheel

We are fortunate to live within easy driving distance of what I consider to be the nicest amusement park in the United States. Knoebel's Grove charges no admission, no parking fees, and has plenty of rides to keep us happy. You can buy tickets and pay per ride or get a handstamp for one price to ride all day. I no longer ride much due to inner ear issues, so this park is great for me. Our habit for the last few years has been to visit the park on a day soon after they open for the season but before all of the local schools let out for the summer. This year we had a little more company than usual, several of the local schools were having field trips to the park that day, but the crowds were not bad and the lines for the rides were short. In fact, most of the rides were half empty.

nearly empty

My kids were on this ride, but I am still not an expert at moving targets with the camera. Plus, I like to keep my boys' photos off the web, so this one serves that purpose well. This ride is called the Downdraft. JT has been riding it solo in recent years, but EM decided it was time to be brave and try it out. They rode it twice and he loved it. Sometimes I look at the boys and just can not believe how little they look like my babies anymore. I know my goal as a parent is to work myself out of a job, but it's hard to imagine in a few short years they'll be on their way.

another group of empty seats

Speaking of independence and parenting- I was dealing with a dilemma last week. JT was expressing desire to go to an overnight church camp this summer. I have been to this camp for a few ladies' retreats and as a chaperone on youth rallies. I like their programs, but I was concerned for several reasons.The main problem is that JT deals with allergies and asthma. At home, he sleeps with his windows closed and air conditioning all summer. Sleeping in an open cabin in the woods seems like it might be a recipe for disaster. We talked for awhile about the potential problems but the thing that made him decide not to go was that he would have to eat too much processed camp food.  It's funny the things that guide our decisions now.

ghostly riders

The day after our discussion on camp a great opportunity came to my attention. The Uptown Music Collective located in Williamsport had an ad on our local newspaper's website about the camps they are offering this summer. I had never heard of the collective before. I did a little research on the web and through friends and quickly signed JT up for their drum technique camp. It turns out I just made it in under the wire to get him a place. This will fit perfectly into his planned summer project of improving his drum skills. He's already been working hard with his dad, but I feel a little structured instruction could go a long way. Maybe after he finishes the camp, he'll be more interested in taking regular classes. The drive is going to be a bit more than I'd like, but I'm willing to put in the hours if it gives him what he needs. I also registered EM to attend a three day local history camp for the same week JT will be at drum camp. I'm hoping I can coordinate all of the dropping off and picking up that will be involved.

I gave the boys a break from our plan to do school work one day a week through the summer. They have continued to watch The Universe series we bought to further our astronomy unit, but I did not assign any math. I will bring that back on board next week. Between history camp, drum camp, Kids' College, and fire safety camp, it's looking like summer is going to be a little busier than our school year.Once again, we can't do anything like everyone else.

We can't even use summer for relaxation!

Breaking Down Portfolio Construction

contents page

Last week I wrote a quick post about preparing our end of year homeschool portfolios. I didn't go into much detail since writing about the portfolios wasn't really helping me meet my deadline to complete them. I wrapped up work at 1 am on Sunday morning and had a nice visit with our evaluator on Monday. I'm going to attempt to show the steps I follow to build our yearly portfolios per a request by a commenter, Jessica from Teachable Moments.

work basket

I'm going to start from the very beginning of the process. Every day when the boys complete their work, they place it in the basket pictured to the right. I review their work daily, then return it to the basket where, during a good week, it stays until Friday night when it gets moved to phase two.

big binders

Each of the boys has a two inch binder where I store their work. At the end of the week, I file each of those papers according to subjects required by the state. If you look at the picture on the left closely, you can see the front page in each binder has a list of the required subjects. JT has the secondary list, EM is still using the elementary. I use construction paper subject dividers to keep these more organized.

attendance chart

Pennsylvania requires homeschoolers to either put in 180 days or 900 hours for elementary/990 hours for secondary per year. We go by the 180 standard. I find it much easier to track. I include our attendance chart in the portfolio. I downloaded this from askPauline, an excellent resource for PA homeschoolers. In general, I like to include three samples for each subject in the portfolio, from the beginning, middle, and end of the year. I just keep an eye on our attendance total and when we reach 60, 120, and 180, I move to the next phase.

 

JT vocab test

 I sit down with the big binders and pull out one or two of the best samples for each subject and move them to the keeper binder. The rest of the pages get boxed up in case I change my mind about my decisions. That allows the big binders to be cleared out for the next 60 days. This process also lets me see which subjects need more tangible proof of accomplishments. Sometimes we spend so much time reading aloud, especially in subjects like American history, that I neglect to get something down on paper that proves what we are doing.

leftovers

All of those unused samples get moved to file folders that I label as beginning, middle, end, with each boy having his own set. I also place completed workbooks into that pile. I have a large shoe box that holds all of my folders. When the year is completed, I also place their spelling lists, weekly plans I made, and copies of fliers from activities. I will keep this box until I receive our approved portfolios back from the school district. At that point, I sit down and go through the box one more time, pulling out all of my favorite examples of their work, and usually all writing assignments, to keep. Everything else goes in the recycle bin. I learned early on in this process that keeping everything is a sure way to get overwhelmed by clutter.

Now it's time to look at the components of the portfolio itself. Again, askPauline is a wonderful place to get information on how to construct a portfolio. Here's an excerpt from 24 PS 13-1327.1 that outlines what needs to be in there according to PA state regulations:

  The portfolio shall consist of a log, made contemporaneously with the instruction, which designates by title the reading materials used, samples of any writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials used or developed by the student and in grades three, five and eight results of nationally normed standardized achievement tests in reading/language arts and mathematics or the results of Statewide tests administered in these grade levels. An annual written evaluation of the student's educational progress as determined by a licensed clinical or school psychologist or a teacher certified by the Commonwealth or by a nonpublic school teacher or administrator. ... The evaluation shall also be based on an interview of the child and a review of the portfolio required in clause (1) and shall certify whether or not an appropriate education is occurring. 

evaluator's approval

The first page in our binder after the cover page shown in the first picture is the letter of approval from our evaluator. She interviews each of the boys while reviewing the portfolio and from that determines whether an appropriate education is occurring. She is always has good questions for both the boys and me.


I already shared the attendance chart above. I would place that next in the binder. 

book log

Next we have our log. I typically keep a spreadsheet running for each of the boys throughout the year to track their reading. I divide the log into two sections. At the beginning, I list all the textbooks that are being used. I include title, author or publisher, subject, and date completed, if applicable. Then I list all the books they read throughout the year, both individually and aloud. I break those down by subject, as well, and also have a category called Free Reading. Typically their book logs are between four and five pages long.

subject dividers

After that, we move on to samples of their work. I print out divider pages with the subject and sub-categories, plus the school year dates on each. I like to keep the binder organized to be sure the district representative has an easy time following what we have done. There are ten different subjects represented in the binder. Some are straight-forward, like mathematics. Others are split into sub-categories like the English shown on the left. Those specific subdivisions are listed for secondary level requirements.

art summary

For the less tangible subjects including art, physical education, and music, I include short summaries of what we did for the year. This is the summary I wrote for JT's portfolio. Usually I can change a few things in the summaries to fit each of the boys without having to write completely separate accounts. Because I try to make the material we cover accessible to both of them, this method works well, especially for the subjects where summaries are necessary.

page of art work

One of my more time consuming activities when I'm creating the portfolios is converting physical art work and other projects into digital format. Last week in my post, I shared a picture showing how I photograph the boys' art work. Once I have a full set of those images, I print them in tiles, nine to a page, and include them in the art section of the portfolio. I do the same with posters, timelines, and objects like dioramas.

field trips

The final section I include in both portfolios is one that is not required by the regulations. I label it 'supplemental'. That is where I include a list of our field trips, fliers from activities, pictures of the boys enjoying places we have visited, and for JT this year, the certificates of completion from his Coursera classes. Some homeschoolers argue that extra things shouldn't be given to the district because it raises the bar for all the other parents. I personally like to include this section because it allows the school to see that my boys don't spend all of their days doing worksheets and sitting at home reading books.

big binders and finished portfolios

So there you have it! The black binders in the picture on the left are the completed portfolios for our school year 2012-2013. Each has approximately 90 pages. I will take them to the district office to drop them off as soon as I get next year's affidavits and objectives put together. I don't like to make the trip more than once if I can help it.

Portfolio construction can be tedious for me. I sometimes wish I lived in a state that didn't require this kind of work. But I wonder if I would feel as good about where the boys are in their education if I didn't have those pages to reassure me that they are making progress.

For now I am happy to say that they have made progress in this school year. Let the summer begin!

Portfolio Scramble

photo shoot

It seems that the more years I homeschool the boys, the worse I am at getting things together in a timely manner. Our meeting with the evaluator is Monday morning. Due to a weekend full of already scheduled events, I basically have tomorrow to complete this project.

It's going to be a long day.

In Pennsylvania, there is no standard way of creating a portfolio. There are several mandatory components; a letter from the evaluator certifying that the student has received an 'appropriate' education, something indicating that the student has met the required 180 days or 900 hours of instruction, a log designating the titles of reading materials used, samples of work, and standardized test results for students in grades 3, 5, and 8. This simple set of guidelines really allows me to show their work in a wide variety of ways. My usual method is a combination of actual samples of their work, photographs of activities they have participated in during the school year, flyers from performances we have attended, written summaries of their work in hard to show subjects, like physical education, and a sample of their art work. For the art work sample, I typically take photos of each piece of work on a white background, load them into a photo printer and print a page or two of tiles showing the variety of work they have done.

Today I managed to complete the art work photos and printing. I spent a little time updating their reading logs to include their most recent books. Starting work on the summaries of subjects like physical education, art, and health, I ran into a road block. I realized I never wrote out the outline for our health unit this year. That particular unit had come together in a very fluid way. Even though we were learning new things about our eating habits through documentaries and websites, we never really had a definite direction to each day's work. After going back through the weekly lists I give each boy on Mondays, I had made a quick outline of what we had done. Then I remembered! I had written a blog post all about our healthy eating unit that would work perfectly for the portfolio!  It looks like blogging has paid off for me this time.

Tomorrow I will need to make final decisions on what work samples to include. I will also need to scour my hard drive for good pictures of our adventures this year. Putting the portfolios together can sometimes feel like busy work for me. However, I realize going back and following our path through the year from beginning to end is a great way to appreciate where we have been and where we are headed for the future.