Should you or should you not use homeschool co-ops

You will not have to read long here at  Blueberry House to discover that I am not a lover of  Science! I buy Science from Christian Light Publications because it has a box that you can get with every grade that has everything you need to do any experiments in their books. Each grade has its own box and the box has stuff in it right down to the soil and the paper cups, the beakers and the slides. Its wonderful...well it would be if I used it more often.

Even with that convenience I find myself dreading Science with the kids. Tink doesn't care about Science, but then she doesn't care about anything other than her friends, her violin and her volleyball. Peter on the other hand, loves Science and all that goes with it! Poor kid, his mommy is Science challenged! I've just never been big on Science.

Don't fall off your chair when I tell you that I really don't care why something works, as long as it works! Last week Tink had to write a science concept paper in her Writing class! Now I can't imagine why someone would pull Science into such a beautiful class as Writing, but the teacher thought it was a good idea. Tink was told her paper had to be on the Generation of Electricity. What a bunch of hair pulling and teeth grinding that was!

I had to help with her with the large majority of the assignment and I realized anew how much I hate Science!! Just let me turn the lights on, don't tell me about the electrons that bump into each other and generate electricity. I dont want to know about magnetic fields and turbines and such. I only care that electricity is there when I need it. I know, I know, that is so shallow of me, but I do not love Science!!!!

I have finally given up on teaching my kids any sort of formal Science. I understand that kids need to know a bit about how things work. Science is probably a very necessary class. Because of this supposed idea I have hit on the perfect plan.

For the last couple of years I have made sure that my kids get their dose of scientific information without any pain on my part. Yes, you guessed it. They now get all their science from homeschool co-ops or the charter school. I hate science! Did I say that already? Peter is taking an animal science class at the charter school. He loves it and so do I...for different reasons, of course. Tink is doing Life Science here at home through a lyrical music program. She learns the vocabulary through songs set to popular music. It's all pain free for me.

I'm really sorry to have broken that perfect homeschool image that blogworld so often portrays but I believe in telling it like it is. If you don't like a subject the kids aren't going to enjoy it. Find someone who loves the subject you hate and have them teach it. Peter is loving Science and I'm afraid he wouldn't if I was his teacher. I would end up killing all his joy. The experiments are the worst! Ach, how I hate experiments...and the mess that follows!

As for history. Ah, now we're talking! I love history! I am passionate about History. I teach it by book, by movies, by field trips, and by any method I can find. Tink is in two history classes this year because her mama loves history!

Okay, I better not get started on my love of the past. The whole point of this is to tell my readers that it's okay to not like a subject. It's okay. It doesn't make you a bad parent or teacher. It's okay to not understand a subject, such as, upper algebra. That's alright.

Don't sweat it.

Just find someone who is qualified to teach it and have them teach your child. The homeschool world is filled with woman who have teaching degrees in all subjects. Many of them offer classes in their specialized field. A good way to find these teachers is to join up with a yahoo homeschool group in your area or a homeschool forum that is localized.

Dont feel bad about needing outside assistance. Homeschooling can be fraught with unnecessary guilt! Free yourself and make use of those co-ops!

Peter the Scientist

Peters Science Kit came today! Yippee! Christian Light Education offers a science kit to go with their science book. The kit is made up of every thing that will be needed throughout the year for the particular grade level. We opened it and it was filled with lovely things, like, balloons, tuning fork, dirt, seeds, beakers, thermometers, dirt, different kinds of rock, paper cups, magnifying glass, etc.

Now sure I have most of that stuff around here but it was worth it to me to pay 30 dollars for the kit just to know that everything would be at my fingertips when Peter gets to that particular experiment.

After that arrived today in the mail my husband told me that he has ordered a Science Box online for Peter. It's designed to teach the principles of electronics to children. Here's the way it is advertised:

The easy-to-handle components snap together to create up to 500 different electronic experiments.
Create circuits that involve magnets, water, sound, light and touch.
Create circuits that make a light bulb flash, motorized fan, sound effects, recording voice, AM Radio, Burglar Alarm, Traffic Lights, display letters and numbers.

He is going to be thrilled when it arrives!
Peter earned $10 stacking wood for the neighbor the other night. He spent it at the homeschool store on a box of plaster stuff and forms for making volcanoes, or planets, or dogs and cats even! That boy loves Science! But then what boy doesn't.

The other day a friend of mine asked Peter what his hobby was and he said, "Extension cords!" I about split. How true! I'm forever taking them out of his bedroom. He has them strung from one end to the other connecting radios, Cd player, lights, and clocks.

Man, I love that kid! Cant wait until he sees his new Science stuff!

Pearler Bead Art

Here's a recap of this past week. These first two pictures are of our Nature walk on Friday. We never did get a bug and Tink refused to use leaves or flowers for her nature notebook so the notebook remains blank while Tink goes in search of the perfect bug. There is no reasoning with her. She has this idea that she wants a bug and nothing less will do. The problem is that she's afraid of every bug she sees so we may never actually get a real live specimen to study. We may have to go with pictures of bugs we see. Anyway here are the kids on our walk. They loved this.




Here we are playing basketball at recess. Yes, I even shot a few baskets.



These are some sun catchers the kids painted in craft time.



And here is a creation Peter made out of Sculpey and mama forgot it on the oven so it baked about three hours. Naughty mama. Peters very proud of this nest and it's four eggs.



And these are made with Perler beads. It's easy to tell which ones Peter made. His are the ones that are made of all colors. Tinks have a little more thought put into them! Tink made a dolphin too but her mother didn't iron it quite right and we lost the tail. I think the kids need a more crafty mother. She really is no good at this stuff! Crafts are not her specialty to be sure.