Happy@Home

Top 10 Alternative Schools

2008-09-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

http://ca.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment_300/307_top_10_list.html

2008-07-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

ART EDUCATION INTIATIVES BY PRIVATE SECTORS

Its all happened in Mumbai, got to know about it only today. Mumbai is a happening place, so much so that quite a lot of it goes unnoticed too. As a educator it feels great to see that such initative will open up lots of avenues for supporting a child's interest in art. At home and school the child goes through daily grinds of homework pressure a weekend at such fest wld definately rejenuvate a child.

http://www.surfexcel.in/childrensfestival08.aspx

inspiring post from an unschooling mother

2008-05-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Posted by: "Lisa" jlblock01@yahoo.com jlblock01
Thu May 8, 2008 1:03 pm (PDT)
This morning my 6 yr old asked the little boy that we are fostering
right now why he had to go to school... the boy replied that you HAD
to go to school to learn so you could get a good job... Jack thought
about it for a second and said "what happens if you don't get a GOOD
job? I think I would rather have a fun job" Funny how some adults
don't even get this and my 6 yr old has it figured out!

Oh and for the record... my father never took a woodworking class and
builds beautiful furniture which he learned to build from a book.. the
tools he uses ...learned to use those from a book also...my mother
learned to make beautiful baskets from a book, my husband learned car
repair from a book none were ever "taught" by anyone. One summer I
taught myself to play the alto saxophone... when I returned to school
and told my music director I wanted to switch from clarinet to
saxophone that I had learned over the summer he refused to let me
until I lied and said I took lessons! All of my children have
learned tons of things from books while never being taught by anyone
else. Anyone ever heard of "independent study"???
Lisa

ALL TIME FAVOURITE Activity

2008-04-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

for more on this activity visit:

http://textodigital.com/P/GG/bidxc.php

classroom in action

2008-04-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

A-Z song

2008-04-09T06:41:00.000-07:00

Most of the boys love cars...so does my son...
I helped him to his A to Z with his fav subject....cars
A for Alto
B for Baleno
C for Corolla
D for Datsun(international)
E for Esteem
F for Fabia
G for Getz
H for Honda City
I for Ikon
J for Jeep
K for Kompressor
L for Lancer
M for Matiz
N for Nexia
O for Octavia
P for Pajero
Q for Qualis
R for Renault
S for Santro
T for Tavera
U for Uno
V for Versa
W for Wagon-R
X for Xeta
Y for Yuppie ( imaginary)
Z for Zen
I have recorded the song on my cellphone...actually its my voice with a slideshow...its his favourite.

cellphone and multi-lingual rhymes

2008-04-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

a CELLPHONE is a great tool , my preschooler son loves to listen rhymes again and again and again....i have recorded his fav rhymes and hand over the cellphone to him, the GUI has enabled him to understand the path of these recording and he loads it and lo! he can hear his mother singing as long /many times, to hearts content. i have friends from varied cultures...they have recorded rhymes in various languages and it has helped him pick up other language rhymes too...they r memorized within 2 days. the best part is that my child is in control of what he wants to learn and is very skillfully accomplishing language skills.

Week 2 With Veer at home!

2008-04-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Week 2 With Veer at home!
http://www.4faculty.org/includes/digdeeper/lesson4/multipleintelligences.htm
http://www.todaysteacher.com/MILearningActivities.htm

linguistic
made a book on bamboo tree...have a plant with lots of sparrows chirping all day
opposites: wide and narrow, raw and ripe
singing Hindi Rhyme....he's ready with 3 absolutely memorized
Reading a set of Books: Bruno and his life....lost, lied, shared, etc.
I am interacting in 5 language, Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi and Sindhi.

logical and mathematical
introduce him to shapes puzzles called tangram...on the computer
http://www.wartoft.nu/software/sebran/
counting forward and backwards

spatial devlopment
solving mazes

kinesthetic devlopment
book balancing oh head and walking forward and backward

musical devlopment
sang the song do re mi..."Sound of Music" all week long

interpersonal devlopment
greeting to incoming phone-calls
teaching grandmother to operate the DVD player
sharing
Brushing right

intrapersonal devlopment:
http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/March2000/art52000.shtml

posted a greeting card to "Nani"
Coached him to switch from saying "mera" to "hamara"
Encouraged him to speak to a shop Assistant at Coffee Cafe Day and went for a walk in the kitchen area.

naturalistic devlopment
made an alphabet scrap book on nature
growing garden saplings

spiritual
reciting Gurbani at bed time

kids learn more when parents talk less

2008-03-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Early morning on my walk around mango trees, i picked up excitedly tiny little raw mangoes. I wld go home and show veer ....this is the first time ever he wld see a raw and tiny mango. As i hurried home a thought occurred, as a child my father wld bring home varied things from nature but never show it to me.....he just left them around. When i wld wake up, and find something new on the table around...i wld be amazed, wonderstruck, inquisitive and filled with lots of feelings. .....I REALISED....if I showed the tiny mangoes to veer, i wld leave him poorer in learning and emotional connections....so i just left the tiny mangoes around on the table.

lesson 1: Unschooling withing homeschooling!

2008-03-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to so many of u at Alt-ed, India! The group is fathoming newer - deeper depts and yet supporting and nurturing amature like me to swim ashore the beach of homeschooling!

Words that made my day today:

"Every stage in a child's life is there for a purpose. If we can respect and respond to her needs fully during each stage of her life, she can be done with that stage and move on." —Naomi Aldort

some links that will be treasured by me: THANK U TO ALL AT yahoogroup/ alt-ed-india

Krishnamurti talking with children in 1984:- Utube video:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZU9IyDYzdg

Unschooling: http://sandradodd.com/unschooling

Natural child:
http://www.naturalchild.org/naomi_aldort/
http://www.authenticparent.com/

Veer's inspiring words!

2008-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Since last 3 mths veer's been going thru and Overall Growth Program, conducted by a local group called ISP. Undeniably they are doing a good work, but Veer is happy@home. I have been truly pushing him to attend the program!

Late evening today as I returned home, he was playing with his grandpa and grandma complained about his tantrum on not wanting to go to OGP, as I confronted him on it? He promptly replied, "I'll go tmrw happily!"......the prompt reply was to win his mother to his side, i cajoled him and hugged him tight....and let him win!

New Discovery towards Art!

2008-03-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Every Apartments wld have a glass table, this table can be transformed into art board, every time i use sponge and soapwater to clean it....veer's enjoys scrubbing the glass and then tracing design on it and alphabets too!

DVD-Laptop time

2008-03-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

Veer and I have a great time when he sits with his DVD video, at the same time i sit with my Laptop, its a scene to watch, i get my free time to work and publish post. While he will watch his Hindi/ English Song DVD's....i manage to get almost an hour to work for myself. But over and above....its great to watch him understand how to load the 14th video in the collection, swap DVD's and see his logical connections grw leaps and bound

WOW, I am happy

2008-03-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

I am so driven by my child, now that i am homeschooling him is a personal breakthrough in itself. Been a Techsavy teacher for a long time now...but never started blogging, and lo...i've finally created one and cant stop posting my thoughts, ha ha! . Just not that, i hesitated to comment on blogs and now i am commenting allover. WOW, I am happy with so many more feathers to my cap.

week 1 with homeschooling

2008-03-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

wld like to share my experience of my first week in homeschooling.

I just cant stop feeling good about the stand....i told so many friend about it....and i got a thumbs up by most of them.

For Veer
made a book on bats in a ppt format. ( after our evening expierence with the flying mammal in the garden)
Introduced him to Domino a number game....he's a pro in a week.
He's tasted all the possible Vegetables and happily relished them....three cheers to homeschooling.
He's bathing, eating, drinking on his own.
He helps me dust and wash at home.....his favourite of all.
I have been interacting with him intentionally in 4 languages. to my surprise he replies to all the four.....willl work on this more next week.
Singing hindi bollywood songs ....lakadi ki kathi, mummy ko pappa se - papa ko mummy se.... etc.
Plenty of Activities on books bought for him from the market.
Spotting birds around our homes....Eurasian Golden Orioles, Oriental Magpie Robin, Blue rock pigeon, House sparrow, Jungle crow, Coppersmith barbet....want to pass my hobbies to him.

FREEDOM FROM SCHOOL

2008-03-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

I WITHDREW MY SON FROM SCHOOL, FINALLY!

3 yrs ago, i gave birth to a darling baby boy....and i wanted to homeschool him. I dint have the courage to tell my hubby about it...or somewhere i was unsure about it.

Last year i send him to school and felt guilty, i am a teacher for almost a decade now, i know the pros and cons of conventional schooling, have been reading so much on the net about homeschooling....yet, yet what was missing i dint knw. COURAGE I guess!

Veer, my son, is happy being at home, i remind him of his friends at the school and keep asking him if he want to go to school or be homeschooled with mummy....not once has he said i want to go to school.

Being a working mother is a challenge, but the advantage is i am a computer teacher, making books, downlading data, reading refrences posted by the group is a daily routine....so far its been good.

But i am sure that there will be challenges henceforth....for which i have this BLOG to fall back on.

I plan to just flow with Veers mind for a year atleast....no fixed curriculum! I have trained him to tell me puzzle time, coloring time, scribbling time, ball time, reading time, domino time, tv time, garden time, sandplay time, waterplay time and so on....the list is growing bigger by the day... phew! I am keeping my cool! But i am happy about it.

but there is one thing that i am pushing with noconsent of his is FREEPLAY time, that is my time to work and he is on his own....at my school or at my home....whatever, but he cannot disturb me! IS IT OKAY!....PLS COMMENT