Oak Rock Academy

Recently, I’ve had some health issues and decided to take my daughter along when I needed an abdominal ultrasound to examine my gallbladder. The ultrasound technician was accommodating and gave her the grand tour of my abdomen.

Afterwards, she gave her a little teddy bear. It was a great experience and we were able to do it because we homeschool.

Just a couple weeks ago, I took my father-in-law to a medical appointment involving steroid shots given to his neck, guided by CT. My daughter came along again, and the CT tech showed her the room and the CT machine. Of course, my daughter couldn’t watch the procedure as the CT emits radiation. But getting that mini-tour beforehand made her day

She also likes to come along on vet appointments for the pets. She’s often expressed an interest in science and medical based careers. Even though she’s 11, it’s never too early to provide experiences related to possible jobs she could be interested in.

I am careful, of course, about the appointments I allow her to come along for. If I think there’s the potential for bad or scary news, including for the pets, I’ll have her stay at home. I don’t want to expose her to more than she can handle. Plus, as a woman, we need to have private discussions with our doctors that may not be appropriate for our children to hear.

Additionally, I do not take my 12 year old son to my personal medical appointments because the risk of not being appropriate is much higher.

But incorporating medical visits into your child’s education is a great educational tool. Don’t go off and get sick on purpose of course - but when opportunities arise - make the most of them!

This is a question Michael, a student in Utah wondered, so he did a science experiment on it. What a great idea! He went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (featured in the Discovery show Dogtown) to conduct his experiment.

He found that 59% demonstrated left-pawedness, 26% right-paw, and 15% ambidextrous.

via ModernCat

I love the movie ‘No Reservations,’ starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Abigail Breslin, and Aaron Eckhart. If you’re not familiar, the story revolves around a New York City chef, Catherine Zeta-Jones, who raises her niece Zoe, Abigail Breslin, after her sister dies.

The chef begins taking Zoe to her work with her every night, which ends up keeping Zoe up late at night. The school catches on when Zoe is falling asleep and they threaten to call social services. The chef hires a nanny to solve the problem.

An alternative solution? Homeschool! What a fascinating life for a kid! There are plenty of educational opportunities - cooking involves math, science and artistic elements. Plus, there’s still plenty of time during the day for other learning opportunities.

Most of the time, talk about autism revolves around the causes or need for a cure. But I’ve got a big secret for you - if you stop trying to make an ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) kid “normal” for a day and just look at what s/he has to offer - you’ll enter an incredible world of creativity, imagination and genius.

That’s why I was so thrilled to see Google celebrating ASD kids and the work they create through their 3D modeling product, SketchUp. Google rightly informs that ASD kids think visually. They think in pictures. What I didn’t realize is how difficult it is for ASD kids to draw. I figured that drawing pictures would be come more naturally. But for some reason, using SketchUp, as Google says, “clicks” with them. Check out this video from Google to learn more:

Apartment Therapy has a sub-blog of sorts called Unplugged. Recently, they featured a Homeschool Classroom.

We don’t have a specific space set apart for homeschooling (maybe we should? we’ll figure it out evenutally). However, we certainly don’t diss those who do!

This space looks colorful, and I think it would be so fun to live in this A-frame house. It’s certainly inspiring and unique, which makes for motivated learning.

Earlier this month, Jonathan Fields posted on his blog about his writing M.O. He said he is a slower writer than most. He gave an anecdote of being in law school and watching scores of other students turn in many more pages than he. But he learned to make every word count, something other students may not have been doing if they just whirled through the assignment.

Naturally, it made me think about homeschool. Do I know my kids modus operandi? Do I allow them to operate under their M.O. or do I try to force them to operate under mine?

Unfortunately, I find myself doing the latter. I think I do so because it helps me feel like they’ve accomplished a task, lesson or subject matter if they can express their knowledge in the same way I did as a kid.

But that doesn’t happen very often, and it creates for some frustrating scenarios.

Thankfully, Mr. Fields, with his courage to operate under his own M.O. and his encouragement to the rest of us to do the same can help foster a more thorough and genuine learning experience at our homeschool.

When the economy started getting really bad last fall, I changed the way I homeschool my kids. I started being more traditional with books and subjects. I wanted the kids to be on grade level in case I needed to work full time again and they needed to go back to public school.

It’s been a struggle. I’d much rather the kids learn at their own pace and also learn via TV, video games, the internet, etc.

Lately, I’ve been trying to mix the two - traditional with interactive and electronic, but that’s mostly due to an illness that’s been more prolonged than I hoped.

One of the biggest advantages of homeschooling in my mind is to give the kids an awesome opportunity that they can’t get at public or even private schools.

I’m hoping to have the courage to return to those beliefs because I want to give my kids an education they’ll truly never forget!

I’m thinking about starting a series of posts linking to cool sites on the web that can help kids (and adults) learn new things in a fun and interactive way. Check out these links:

How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

The Size of Our World (great for showing earth’s size in relation to other planets)

Hunkin’s Experiments - a site full of fun experiments

Middle East and Northern Africa Geography Game

Anatomy of a Black Hole - cool demonstration explaining how black holes form

Grow 100 lbs of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet

Make Your Own Pop Bottle Drip Irrigation System

I came across a great online periodic table. You can mouseover the different elements and a bunch of information about the element will come up in a box. To access the periodic table, click here.

Here’s a screenshot:

Last week, my doctor scheduled me for an abdominal ultrasound because I’ve been experiencing pain in the right upper quadrant. I took my daughter with me because she’s often said she might want to become a doctor (along with meteorologist, fashion designer, veterinarian, etc

The ultrasound technician was very accommodating and showed Kayla the liver, gallbladder, and kidney. She also answered Kayla’s question about why you can’t eat for several hours before an ultrasound (the ultrasound doesn’t like the air bubbles created from gas that happens when you eat).

At the end, the tech gave her a teddy bear. Kayla learned so much and in a way that will stick with her.

Taking the kids to the vet also helps them learn about animals including anatomy, health and behavior.

I want our homeschool to focus on educating the kids for the real world as much as possible. Taking them along on appointments is a great way to see science in action!