UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your great suggestions!!! I didn’t actually get any entries until after I already released the curriculum under the name of Mosaic on January 1, so I did a random drawing of all entries from email and the comments. Celia, from the comments below, was the winner of the soap. (Celia, I’ve emailed you to get your address. Let me know, and I’ll get it right out to you!) Thanks everyone, for participating!

The post announcing that I will be giving away free lesson plans for homeschoolers has generated more interest that I ever expected! Though several of my other articles have been fairly well received, this one has been by far the most popular that I’ve done, to date. I’ve been getting a ton of traffic via StumbleUpon the past few days, which is utterly new for me, and very gratifying. (So thank you very much to everyone who stumbled this website this week!!!)

Since it seems like there is more than sufficient interest out there, I thought I’d be a little audacious, and ask you for a favor. I’m trying to come up with a name for the series of lesson plans. The particular year that I’m getting ready to release is themed “Myths, Maps, and Marvels”, but I’m referring to the overall series name. The particular “brand” of homeschool resources, if you will.

I put brand in quotes, because in a way it seems a little silly for a line of free products to have a brand name. But what the hay, it seems like people really dig brands, plus that way people will know what to call it when they tell their friends about the helpful free lesson plans they just found online!

I have a few possibilities I’ve been tossing around, but it occurred to me that some of you might have some even better ideas. Inspiration can be a little random at times, and it just might strike you before it strikes me.

So, here’s your big chance! If you have any ideas or suggestions, you can leave them in the comments below, or email them directly to me at april@lunablog.net .

If I use one of your suggestions, I’ll send you 5 bars of my very own homemade soap! (Blogging and writing lesson plans aren’t my only hobbies, you know.)

If the winning name is submitted by more than one person, the first to submit the name wins. And if I end up not using any of your ideas (I can be fickle like that, though it pains me to admit it), I’ll have a drawing from among all the entrants to select the winner. Needless to say, if only one person submits an idea, that person will win automatically! If nobody participates, well, I guess I’m keeping the soap and you have only yourself to blame, lol.

These terms mean you might win, even if you don’t think your idea is very good, or if you have no idea what I’d be looking for in a name.

So go ahead and start brainstorming! Think about what kind of curriculum you’d feel good using. What do you have to lose?!

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Well, things are moving right along with the free curriculum project! This seems like great time to share what I’m up to right now, and to give a couple more details about what the lesson plans will include:

I’ve finished updating and revising two versions of the curriculum that incorporate Story of the World and A Little History of the World, respectively. They also schedule the use of many other books of history, literature, and poetry, and they even recommend an (entirely optional, of course) book containing key stories from most of the world’s major religions. The main poetry book is used for memory work, and many of the literature selections reinforce topics that are covered in the history components.

I’ve further edited each of those main versions into versions that incorporate prehistory/evolution units, and those that omit the prehistory units. (Some people say you can’t please everyone, and that is certainly true. Golly, though, I do want to try to please as many as possible!)

Speaking of pleasing everyone, I have plans to divide all the main versions into individual unit studies, so that you folks can pick and choose which topics you want to use, if you don’t want to do the whole year’s curriculum day by day. We’ll see if I can get the units done by the end of the year, but I’ll at least have the main curriculum ready to go!

Right now I’m working on designing an introduction to timelines to go along with the other lesson plans. I’m planning to include several activities to introduce timelines to youngsters in ways that they can understand (hopefully!). I know some of these activities have been quite helpful for my children so far.

I’m thinking that if I can make good progress with this timeline unit I might just release it early, as a sneak peak, while I finish up editing the rest of the curriculum. If it works out that I can do it, I’ll definitely let you know!

Oh, and I have a special favor I wanted to ask of you. I’m going to put info about that in a separate post.

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The 102nd Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Seeking Rest in Ancient Paths.  This week is the Many Hats of Homeschooling edition.  Lots of good post, as always!  I can’t wait to get a few extra minutes to read through some of them.

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Do you consider yourself to be a creative person?

Whether you answered “Yes, definitely!” or “No way – are you kidding?” I think you should keep reading.

Many of us have neglected to spend a lot of time realistically evaluating our creativity, and we often associate creativity with doings lots of crafts, creative writing, or art. There are many ways to live a creative life, though, and homeschooling is most definitely one of them!

I just finished reading a really cool free ebook this week, and I was unexpectedly struck by just how appropriate it was for homeschoolers. For instance, do you know what is one of the best ways to create amnesia? I bet most homeschoolers would be interested to know that, and also to know how to avoid that fate, as well!

You can download your own free copy of Time Management for Creative People, which was written by Mark McGuinness. The subtitle is “Manage the mundane, create the extraordinary” – that sounded pretty good, to me.

It is a very manageable 32 page download, succintly written, that collects a number of intriguing and unique ideas, including:

• How to ring fence your best time for creative work.
• How to get things done by putting them off until tomorrow (!)
• How to use buckets to get things off your mind.
• How to avoid getting so busy with urgent details that you never get around to doing the things that matter most.

I’m sure some of you are wondering (especially since the book is actually aimed at web and design workers), “Why does this apply to homeschoolers?”

Consider the following:

• Lots of homeschooling parents have creative goals for their lives, or ongoing creative projects. (blogs, for example, or work at home businesses, or scrapbooking, or even writing the Great American Novel)
• Lots of homeschooled kids and teens also have creative dreams and ambitions. At some point in their education it is incredibly useful for them to learn more about ways they can take full advantage of their creative potential.
• Finally, homeschooling itself can be an intensely creative experience. After all, no matter how you actually go about doing it, your primary goal as a parent is to create a rich learning environment for your offspring.

Homeschooling offers opportunities for amazing possibilities, but it also often entails plenty of distractions. These mundane, everyday distractions can derail (sometimes permanently) your more creative and meaningful plans. Those great things that you were going to get around to may be truly wonderful, even life changing. But they are rarely urgent, and so time and again they get bumped to the back of the line, while you struggle to take care of the “emergencies” that invariably pop up to gobble your time.

You may find this book especially helpful if you (like me) find yourself avoiding your child’s requests for a particularly cherished activity or project more often than you’d like, because, “We just don’t have time.”

Homeschoolers stand to greatly benefit from suggestions for setting aside the time to do the things that are most important to us. Unless we pay special attention to those goals, we run the risk of always putting out fires, but never quite getting around to engaging in some of the most meaningful, life enriching actions to which we aspire.

This ebook offers up some excellent tips and links to several intriguing tools and websites. It also includes recommendations for resources to learn more about creativity, productivity, and expanding our capacity for both. Best of all it is truly free, and it doesn’t even come with a sales pitch or sleazy marketing (phew!).

I want to challenge you to make the most of the opportunities you have opened up for your family through homeschooling! (I’m challenging myself to the same thing!)

What would your life look like if you dared to attempt some of your most audacious goals?

If you are a homeschooler, you have quite a bit of flexibility compared to most families. What are some great opportunities that you could pursue if you wanted to take maximum advantage of your freedom and flexibility?

What have you been telling yourself you’d like to do, but haven’t gotten around to yet?

What are some steps you can take now, to move yourself a little closer to actually doing those things? (Even baby steps or starting on a small scale is preferable to never getting started at all!)

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Looking for an annual holiday tradition that your family can enjoy together? Get Rich Slowly has an intriguing post about the Cinnamon Bear radio series from the 1930’s.

Cinnamon Bear was a serial that was broadcast via one 10 minute segment per night each night between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it followed the escapades of boy and girl twins, plus a teddy bear, as they traveled to Maybeland to retrieve their stolen Christmas star from the Crazyquilt Dragon.

Get Rich Slowly’s post has links to mp3’s of all of the original episodes. If you have little ones, this might be a nice “retro” way to commemorate the countdown to Christmas.

My girls listened to the first two episodes while we ate lunch, and for some reason they found them to be quite humorous. If you do take a listen, let me know what your children think!

As a side note, Get Rich Slowly is a great personal finance blog, with a wealth of common sense information and support for getting out of debt, living frugally, and building wealth. I read this blog often, just for extra insight and inspiration.

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This week’s Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Dewey’s Treehouse.  Mama Squirrel has gotten tooo creative this week.  To celebrate the abundance of snow in her neck of the woods, she has included snow-related excerpts from several different childhood classics.  You get to guess which ones – answers are provided, thank goodness.

Hopefully, you’ll do better than I did.  I thought she must have been picking the most obscure books she could find, but when I checked the answers, I’d read more than half of them, and several were from particular favorites of mine.  Guess it has been a while since I read most of them though!

There are lots of great posts this week, so have fun!

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EDIT: THANKS StumbleUponers and everyone else who has visited this post! The curriculum launched on January 1, and is available by clicking below:

Lunablog.net Free Homeschool Curriculum Page

Enjoy! –April

Coming soon!

I’m very pleased to announce that revisions are almost complete on the first of my FREE homeschool instructor’s guides. In fact, the beta version of the first year-long program will be available for download right here on New Year’s Day!

Different strokes for different folks

For a long time, I’ve admired Sonlight, History Odyssey, Winter Promise, and other literature rich “Living Book” approaches to learning history, geography, literature, culture, religion, and values. At the same time, I have also recognized that:

• Different families have different needs.
• Different children have different abilities and needs, too.
• New homeschoolers often desire helpful guides, so that they don’t feel like they need to come up with resources, schedules, and ideas on their own.
• Experienced homeschoolers often enjoy having guides as well, to help them stay motivated, accountable, or inspired.

While many homeschoolers feel the need for guidance and ideas in planning their homeschooling activities, different families need different kinds of guidance:

• Some homeschoolers want a day by day schedule that specifies exactly what can be done each day for an entire year.
• Others prefer to piece together unit studies on topics of particular interest, spending as much time on each as desired.
• Still others want a more unschooling approach, with no schedule involved at all, but they do find it helpful to have access to simple lists that point them towards useful books, websites, and resources.

I also know, from personal experience, that it can be difficult to know what approach or format will work the best with your family at any given time. Purchasing curricula can be costly at the best of times, but when you are the proud owner of a curriculum that is unsuitable for your family, rectifying the situation can cause your homeschooling costs to go through the roof.

I’ve been blessed to benefit greatly from homeschooling throughout my life. In fact, I doubt I would even be the person I am today without it. Homeshcooling, while not the ideal option for every family, is certainly a great path for many.

For that reason, it is quite disheartening for me to hear from people who would like to homeschool, but think they can’t afford it, or don’t know how to go about it. Even worse to hear of those who have taken the leap, but have not been able to find an approach to homeschooling that works for their family, and are too discouraged to keep trying costly new ideas.

What people like this need are support and options.

I want to do my part to provide at least a bit of that support and a few of those options, and crazily enough, I feel called to do this without charging for it. I’m not perfect, my methods aren’t perfect, and this won’t be the answer for everyone. Still, it seems like the right path for me to take.

So, beginning on New Year’s Day 2008, I’ll make available the first year of lesson plans.

What exactly is this first homeschool curriculum?

Well, the program is entitled “Myths, Maps, and Marvels”, and it is organized around an Ancient History theme. The full program is currently about 150 pages, and it will be available in several versions and formats to suit various homeschooling styles and preferences. The beauty of the internet is that I can create multiple versions and many options without all the overhead of traditional publishing!

• The initial format, similar to the programs mentioned above, will organize various history, literature, poetry, and geography books and resources into a day by day schedule of activities. Many of the books scheduled can be found used or in libraries. The others should be readily available at sites like Amazon.com.
• Quickly following will be formats optimized for unit studies and also unschooling
• There will be plenty of hands on activities, for those who learn best kinesthetically.
• This level will utilize Usborne’s Encyclopedia of World History.
• You will be able to choose either a version that uses Story of the World: Ancient Times or one that uses Gombrich’s A Little History of the World.
• You will be able to choose a version that covers pre-history and evolution, or you can opt for a version that omits those topics.

My goal here is to come up with guides and schedules that are helpful to as many people as possible, without imposing my personal beliefs on anyone. I am just barely humble enough to recognize that I don’t have everything in the world figured out yet, so I am excited to have the ability to provide options that suit a wide range of beliefs, lifestyles, and learning styles.

I’ve been working on this for hundreds of hours over the past 18 months, and I have finally beaten my perfectionism back sufficiently to declare it good enough to go! I have faith that you all will let me know if have suggestions or feedback about the direction I’ve taken!

If response is positive, and there are folks who feel that the materials are helpful in some way, I’ll continue to compile, refine, and release more resources like this!

I’ll be posting more thoughts and information throughout December, as we work up to the Big Release. Stay tuned, and feel free to pass this info along to anyone who might benefit from it!

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You aren’t alone!

Keeley at Wanderer in a Strange Land confessed a certain angst brought on by my list of 19 Can-Do Nature Walk Variations:

The HUGE problem is that when I get outside I’m just like “uhhh…ok, now what?” and April’s suggestions 2 and 3 make me want to run away screaming. Not that they’re bad suggestions! I’m just slightly bug and creepy thing phobic. How in the heck do I *not* pass that on to my kids? I really don’t want to!

Keeley is referring to my suggestions to turn over rotting logs to look for bugs, worms, and fungi, and also to look for places that animals and insects could make their homes, such as in shrubs, under rocks, in hollow spots in trees, etc.

One size definitely doesn’t fit all

I’m so glad she brought up this point, because it is important to remember that these suggestions are definitely just suggestions, not one-size-fits-all prescriptions for what a good nature walk has to include. Few of us are perfectly comfortable with all aspects of the natural world, so I think it’s important to play to our strengths here, instead of feeling inadequate because of some perceived shortcoming!

For instance, I may not mind bugs, much, but snakes give me major heebie-jeebies. I also have had fairly severe vertigo since I was a teenager, so I struggle quite a bit to avoid passing my discomfort with heights on to my kids. Seeing them play on the monkey bars makes me cringe all the way down to my toes.

My point in bringing all this up is to say that we shouldn’t beat ourselves up too much – What good can come from that? Just do the best you can. I try to be matter of fact about these things as much as possible, so that I don’t make my children think my little phobias are attitudes that they need to copy.

I tell them that I would love to be able to walk across the mile high swinging bridge, or ride on roller coasters, but that my body just doesn’t like heights. I try to let them know that it is something peculiar to me, and I also tell them that I admire how they are not bothered by such things. (They are roller coaster fans, like their daddy.)

I think the same tactic could potentially work for bugs, snakes, or many other disproportionate or misplaced fears. If you can’t help showing your discomfort (and you know those smart little scamps will probably sense it) just admit that your brain doesn’t like whatever it is, but that you wish it wasn’t so bothered by it. I think honesty is probably important, here.

Ideas for making nature less “icky”

One of Keeley’s respondents suggested that she could set aside a particular pair of jeans for her nature experiences, so she doesn’t have to be apprehensive about damaging or soiling her clothes. I think that is a really fabulous idea.

That plan would work for the kids, too. Pick up some old play clothes from a consignment store or garage sale, and let the children wear those old clothes when you go out on your walks. You won’t be cringing quite as much when they end up with “nature” all over them!

I’d also recommend focusing on the parts of nature that are more interesting to you. If you like birds, notice nests (winter is the best time of year to find these, since the leaves are off the trees). Hang a feeder outside your window, and start getting to know nature from the comfort of your family room!

Finally, especially if you are worried about feeling bored or uncomfortable, I’d suggest that, in addition to the activities I mentioned in the 19 Nature Walk Variations, you try some of these suggestions:

• Bring a blanket and a (simple) snack. This gives you something to do when you are bored with nature but still want some more outside time. Go ahead and bring hand sanitizer if it will make you feel better.
• Go with friends. While we most often do nature activities or walks on our own, I must admit that it is usually more interesting for me if there is at least one other adult along as well. And that’s coming from a natural introvert!
• Start with short sessions only – even 5 or 10 minutes is a good start. If you think your walk needs to be too long and overwhelming, you likely just won’t do it.
• Take a book with you, or something else to distract yourself. You know how people say, “I can’t look!”, when something is too scary or gross? That can actually be a good strategy. Keep a general idea of where your children are and what they are doing, but distract yourself from knowing too many of the details if you think you might not like them. This is usually my strategy when the kids get on the climbing wall or the monkey bars at the playground. (I know you won’t interpret that to mean that you shouldn’t watch your children at all – just that you give them some breathing room to do their own thing!)

Romance vs Reality

I think many of us have romanticized visions of the ideal, “Charlotte Mason sanctioned”, gold star nature walk experience. The reality is, we are all at different points along the “comfort level with nature” path, and we need to start where we are comfortable, and then begin gently expanding our horizons from there. If we think we aren’t really “doing” a nature walk unless we meet certain standards, well, we are selling ourselves short, big time.

Your nature walks don’t have to be one hour, three times a week to be effective. They don’t even have to be once a week for you to get some great benefits. The important thing to remember is that you should get out there when you can, and have fun when you do!

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Today is the day for Carnivals! I have two of them to recommend, today.

First is the good ol’ Carnival of Homeschooling, which is being hosted by Mom is Teaching. This week marks the 100th edition of this weekly Carnival!

Also, the Charlotte Mason Carnival has been off to a really great start. This every-two-week carnival is now in its 6th edition, and it is being hosted by Cindy at Dominion Family.

Enjoy!

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Let me say up front that I’m in no way an exemplary housekeeper! I’ve been on and off the Flylady bandwagon for over 8 years (mostly off, lol), and I’ve tried many other methods of getting household messes under control. Because we homeschool, our house is very, well . . . lived in. Every day there are countless opportunities for the entire house to descend into clutter and turmoil. Suffice it to say, the constant vigilence that keeps chaos at bay is not something that comes naturally to me.

I am better at keeping house than I was when I started, though. There are several strategies that I’ve tried that have made a real difference in my ability to keep a (more or less) smoothly running and welcoming home environment. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is how much of a difference routinely getting a few small tasks right can make.

One of the most helpful techniques for making that happen? The “I thought of it, so now I have to do it” rule. It’s very simple, really. I have a few tasks, each taking about 1 minute or less, that I have to complete whenever I happen to think of them. No negotiation or procrastination is allowed, whatsoever. Even if I’m running late, I can take 1 minute to do something, if I think of it.

I’ve found that I can actually make myself do these tasks because I have timed each one, and I can tell myself with complete confidence that it’ll only take 1 minute, or 37 seconds, or whatever the time is for the task in question. It doesn’t take as much willpower as cleaning out a closet or decontaminating the refrigerator. In fact, once you realize how little time it really takes, you feel silly even considering putting it off for later.

So what kinds of tasks are suitable for this sort of exercise?

Well, one of my first candidates was emptying the kitchen trash can whenever it got anywhere even close to full. (This was the inspiration for my post, The Garbage Can is a Metaphor for Life.) As that post points out, you simply can’t justify piling up the trash any more once you realize it only takes a minute (or less) and doing it every time means you will never again have to deal with another Mount Trashmore.

Another good candidate is making your bed. This one seems insignificant, but it helps keep my whole bedroom looking tidy and comfortable. It takes me literally 20-30 seconds. If your bed takes longer than a minute to make up (and you are a reasonably mobile and healthy adult), you should seriously consider simplifying your bedding!

“Swishing and swiping” the bathroom is another great example. Flylady showed me that this task actually takes only seconds each morning, as I’m getting ready for the day. (It probably takes about as long to actually do it as it does to read about it!) I:

• Use my wet washcloth to wipe off the sink and countertop. (15 seconds)
• Spray daily shower cleaner in the shower stall. (10 seconds)
• Swish toilet, and wipe up any drips or hair with a hank of damp toilet paper. (15 seconds)

That’s 40 seconds to a tidy bathroom, on a daily basis. Mirror cleaning, sweeping, and mopping are done periodically, as I have the time. The key to success with this one is to be sure not to have too much “stuff” on your countertops. You don’t want to have to wipe around and under tons of clutter. Again, simplicity is King!

The task I’m working on now is a little trickier for me, because it does take 2-3 minutes. Unloading the dishwasher removes a huge potential bottleneck in kitchen cleanliness, though. You can’t empty your sink if the dishwasher is full of dishes. The overflow of dishes then backs up onto countertops, bars, tables, etc. One thing leads to another, so just clearing out that dishwasher makes the whole kitchen easier to handle. Because I’ve learned that 2-3 minutes really isn’t that long, I’m actually having pretty good results with this experiment, too. It really helps if your cabinets are decluttered enough that you can easily fit your dishes into them.

Tips for best results when using this rule:

• Time yourself, at first, just to prove it really takes only a matter of seconds to complete your task.
• Watch out when your silly brain tries to tell you, “I don’t have time for that right now.” Of course you have time for it! You just timed it, and it takes less than a minute. If you’d just done it right away instead of arguing with yourself about it, it’d be done by now!
• Don’t add too many items to your list at once. This is critical to your success. Too many new ideas at once makes you have to think about strategies way too much. You don’t want to try to remember what and how and when you should be doing something, you want to spend your time actually doing something well. Figure out a simple way to get one or two things done, and then practice doing them as often as you can, until you can do them with hardly a second thought! At that point you can add another item to the list. I know you’re going to want to make a list with all kinds of little tasks on it. Do. Not. Do. That. Yes, I’m talking specifically to YOU. Why don’t you just pick two things right now? Have fun!
• Institute a “triple jeopardy” rule, which means you can’t be forced to do more than 2 tasks in a row. When I started using the ITOISNIHTDO rule, I got a little intimidated by the thought that I’d think of task after task that I needed to do, and then I’d have to do them all at once. So, I made this addendum to help me relax. I can do the extra tasks if I want to, but I don’t have to do more than 2 of them if it isn’t a convenient time.
• In practice, I often do chain several of these tasks together, especially in the mornings. I usually don’t mind, because I love how much I can accomplish with such little effort. If I get tired of it though, I can let myself off the hook after the first two.

I think you’ll find that as you gradually add items to your mental list of things you must do when you think of them, you’ll have more and more little tasks that you habitually do, without even thinking about it. I’ll be thinking about what I need to defrost for supper, and before I know it, I’ve wiped the bathroom counters and made my bed with no mental effort on my part.

If you are looking to add some good habits to your approach to housekeeping, consider trying the “I thought of it, so now I have to do it” rule. Let me know if it helps!

Also, I’ve mentioned a few possibilities in this post, but there are many more 1 minute or less tasks that can make a significant difference in how well your household runs. Feel free to add your suggestions for more in the comments!

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