Homeschool « anyways…

Leaf it to Maine!

September 19, 2007 at 9:27 pm | In Homeschool, Maine | No Comments

Maine has a new foliage website. It offers foliage reports for the entire state during the fall season. It’s great for homeschoolers, because the department of conservation has some tree and foliage information and education. Maine’s such a neat place to live.

Visit the site here: http://www.maine.gov/doc/foliage/

What is this blog about? Why am I blogging?

August 23, 2007 at 6:49 pm | In Credo, Family, Homeschool, Natter, Nursing School | 1 Comment

I like blogging. I am hoping to one day have my blog be an active one, where more people actually comment and my posts are really interesting. Until then, why the heck am I blogging? I mean, is there anybody out there? Well…I know that there are people out there. Since the new address, my blog has had nearly 1,000 hits! WOW! That’s impressive! You want to know which post has received the most hits? The one is Lauren Breaks Her Leg, followed by Mike Smith, LPN and Parakeet Parakeet - Show me your colors. Now that’s weird! My blog statistics tell me that I am getting hits from people doing Google searches for "leg cast" and "parakeet", also nursing type searches. Well, I just have to say, WOW! That’s interesting!

OK - the purpose of my blog started out as a place that the long-distance family could come to catch up with us and see pictures of the kids. Then Kim came into the blogging world and I decided that since she blogged on the family, I could branch out more. I did some of these things before, but now I will blog more on my own views, then on church things and posting my speeches and nursing, etc. Here are my goals for this blog…I hope to get more readership from this.

Family News - yes, but Kim will share this load. Our other site has pictures of the kids in more detail. There will be SOME pictures here.
Memoirs of the LPN to RN Nursing School Man - Last year I posted my notes for absent classmates onto a special website so they could download ‘em. I will be posting the nursing notes at this blog this year. However, I will also be journaling the weekly grueling journey of a nursing student, whose only wish is to end up serving those in need of my compassion, caring, knowledge, skill and training. I will vent, I will tell stories of my clinical experiences, I will complain, rant, blow steam, cry, fuss and sputter. I might even share the fun moments, shining times and heartwarming laughter. Nursing school is so difficult. It’s interesting being a male in the culture, but not as "against the grain" as others tell me it is. I will still share my male thoughts in a female profession. During the school year - my blog may be overwhelmed with the nursing and nursing school crud.
The Credo Stage - I intend to continue sharing my religious beliefs - though in a quiet manner. It’s no secret that I attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That said, I will be posting thoughts and talks.
My nattering mind - I will share my personal ramblings.
Homeschooling - My experiences with homeschooling the kids. I plan on doing a few projects with them this year.

My site is not an official representation of the views of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While it is true that I am a congregant of the Church, the best way to learn about the official doctrine is to visit www.mormon.org for basic beliefs or www.lds.org for official information, and talk with official LDS Church Missionaries. Praying for the inspiration of the Holy Ghost will whisper the truth of our message to your mind, heart and soul. The second best way to really get to know what the Church is like is by getting to know the people of the Church. Some may disagree with this view. But that’s my thought.

Nursing is an inherently personal and intense profession. It takes with it a liability of confidentiality, safety and responsibility. This site is in no way intended to give medical advice, nor should one ever claim that this information is the basis for a medical or health care decision. I do not make such a claim. I will maintain professional confidentiality and I will not reveal identifying information.

Wired

June 30, 2007 at 1:40 pm | In Family, Homeschool, Maine | No Comments

Today, we found ourselves at the Wire Bridge in New Portland, Maine. Now, that was cool. Down by the wire bridge there’s a picnic area and beach. The kids played in the water and Kim and I just chilled.

Fort Knox, Penobscot Narrows Bridge

June 23, 2007 at 1:33 pm | In Homeschool | No Comments

We went to the Penobscot Narrows Bridge at Fort Knox, Bucksport. What a treasure! We had fun running around the Fort

Summer Camps

June 4, 2007 at 8:50 pm | In Family, Glad Tidings, Homeschool | No Comments

Every summer, our kids get to go to summer camps. We consider it part of the learning experiences in our home school. It’s not the kind of camp where you stay overnight - rather, it’s the kind that you go for the day and sleep at home, then return the next day for about a week. It first started with Anne Mallett’s Bug Camp. Kids from our house have gone there for as long as we’re lived in the Farmington area. Then, it was the Foothills Art & Theater Camp. This year, we are going to soccer camp, technology camp, bug camp, Imagination Station summer camp and Old Fort Western Summer Apprentice Program. The kids will be attending these camps with our friends, the McCabes. We are grateful to the Franklin County Children’s Task Force who awards summer camp scholarships for children throughout the county. We have been awarded scholarships to participate in these camps. They still have some scholarships available as of today.

The day’s not over either

April 27, 2007 at 11:04 am | In Homeschool | No Comments

We have pictures. Click here to see ‘em.

This week was full of field trips for homeschooling. The first was the Wistlestop Trail in Farmington, (part of the Jay Farmington Rail Trail) where Sally, Kim and Raylene got all the kids together to walk and walk and walk. They say a really fuzzy wooly bear caterpillar (click here to find out if wooly bear caterpillars predict the weather). The neat thing they did on this trip is they took color swatches from a paint shop and looked for the colors in nature. It was cool! Then, they went to the Pine Tree State Arboretum to learn about surviving in the Maine woods. We found out that they still print the booklet, “You, alone in the Maine Woods.” - a book that Mike had received in his younger years which has been updated (only a little). They went to the park afterwards in Augusta. The next day, the kids went on a virtual field trip at eFieldTrips.org . Caleb went to Grand Teton National Park learn about Birds of Prey. Lundi learned about butterflies. Today, Caleb, Lundi, Harrison and Mom went to give community service. The Franklin County Children’s Task Force is having their annual Kids Stuff Sale. They need people to help sort out the donations. The donations are used for scholarships which our children receive for summer camps. Unfortunately I am sick (mike). I have the flu. I stayed home from clinicals yesterday and today.

Times tables in an hour? Yep!

October 21, 2006 at 11:14 am | In Homeschool | No Comments

We found an excellent way to get the kids to memorize times tables (numbers 6-9). Trigger Memory Systems has a product called Times Tales. It uses a set of fantastic, simple visual mnemonic stories to get them to remember the most difficult to memorize in multiplication. We were amazed that you could actually get those done in about an hour - FOR REAL!

Lundi helps with Liam

July 27, 2006 at 11:15 am | In Homeschool, Liam, Lundi | No Comments

Lundi is such a good helper - especially when it comes to Liam. Home-schooling is always in our minds, but when Liam was fussin’ and Lundi was doing 23 pages of school - she wanted to do something. She swept him up in her lap and they got busy on the schoolwork. Lundi helped Liam “learn” how to write. Mom was doing something else, so this was a tremendous help!

Adventure with a luna moth

June 28, 2006 at 11:22 am | In Harrison, Homeschool | No Comments

Some things just happen at the right time.

Harrison is going to a wonderful place called Bug Camp - headed by Anne Mallet. She does wonders getting kids bug-brave. Butterflies, caterpillars, earwigs, worms, beetles, lady bugs, spiders, gliders and whatever bug you want…for three days the kids get their fill of creepy crawly - and they love it. All our kids went through it. She and I usually work out a scholarship for our attendance.

So as I was saying, Harrison went to bug camp this week. Sure enough, what do we behold on our house? A Luna Moth! The kids all loved it and the next day, Harrison got to learn a bit more about ‘em. Today, we researched what Luna Moths are up to when they just hang out all day.

FYI: Luna moths only live one week. They DON’T have a mouth. They only live for about a week after they emerge from their cocoon. They only look for a mate.