Oct 8, 2007

Two new blogs

I have started two new blogs - one about homeschooling Abigail, and one about our home renovations! You can get to these blogs by clicking on the links to the right!

Homeschooling First Grade Blog
Our Home Reno Blog

They won't be updated as often as this one though!

Scenes from our Thanksgiving.....





The last picture here is of a slice of pumpkin pie.....which is one of my favourite desserts.....I love the texture of the filling, the smell and the feeling in my mouth...the flavours and taste......it's just delicious! And because its made from pumpkin you can fool yourself that its good for you ;)

No pictures of the boys here.....they pulled grouchy faces in every picture I took for them, so I give up lol!

After dinner, Lloyd lit a fire outside and we sat out there until dark. Now Lloyd and I are going to curl up with a movie....all the children are bathed and showered ready for school etc tomorrow :) The kitchen is clean and tidy after dinner and we can finally flop in front of the tv :)

Have a great week everyone!

Interesting article on homeschooling in Canada!

The actual report, you need to download or order.

This is just the news release.

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/commer....aspx?nID=4933

Home schooling improves academic performance and reduces impact of socio-economic factors
Release Date: October 04, 2007
-

TORONTO, ON—Home schooling appears to improve the academic performance of children from families with low levels of education, according to a report on home schooling released today by independent research organization The Fraser Institute.

“The evidence is particularly interesting for students who traditionally fall through the cracks in the public system,” said Claudia Hepburn, co-author of Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream, 2nd edition and Director of Education Policy with The Fraser Institute.

“Poorly educated parents who choose to teach their children at home produce better academic results for their children than public schools do. One study we reviewed found that students taught at home by mothers who never finished high school scored a full 55 percentage points higher than public school students from families with comparable education levels.”

The peer-reviewed report, co-written with Patrick Basham and John Merrifield, builds on a 2001 study with new research and data. It examines the educational phenomenon of home schooling in Canada and the United States, its regulation, history, growth, and the characteristics of practitioners, before reviewing the findings on the academic and social effects of home schooling.

Hepburn said evidence clearly demonstrates that home education may help reduce the negative effects of some background factors that many educators believe affects a child’s ability to learn, such as low family income, low parental educational attainment, parents not having formal training as teachers, race or ethnicity of the student, gender of the student, not having a computer in the home, and infrequent usage of public libraries.

“The research shows that the level of education of a child’s parents, gender of the child, and income of family has less to do with a child’s academic achievement than it does in public schools.”

The study also reports that students educated at home outperform their peers on most academic tests and are involved in a broad mix of social activities outside the home.

Research shows that almost 25 per cent of home schooled students in the United States perform one or more grades above their age-level peers in public and private schools. Grades 1 to 4 home school students perform one grade level higher than their public- and private-school peers. By Grade 8, the average home schooled student performs four grade levels above the national average.

Hepburn said a growing body of new research also calls into question the belief that home schooled children are not adequately socialized.

“The average Canadian home schooled student is regularly involved in eight social activities outside the home. Canadian home schooled children watch less television than other children, and they show significantly fewer problems than public school children when observed in free play,” she said.

The report concludes that home schooling is not only a viable educational choice for parents, but can also be provided at a much lower cost than public schooling. The report notes that in the U.S., home schooling families spend less than $4,000 per year on home schooling while public schooling in the U.S. costs about $9,600 per child.

“Canadian and American policymakers should recognize the ability of parents to meet the educational needs of their children at home, without government involvement,” Hepburn said.

“While home schooling may be impractical for many families, it has proven to be a successful and relatively inexpensive educational alternative. It merits the respect of policy makers, the attention of researchers, and the consideration of parents.”

My Plans for this week....

Monday - thanksgiving - family day! (kite flying, walk, family movie)

Tuesday - swimming...Michaels for painting supplies, and then Abigail has requested to go for a walk to see the horses again.

Wednesday - Miquelon for a walk then follow up activity at home

Thursday - Breakfast with Val then library.

Friday - Telus World of Science

I am hoping to go out to dinner one night with my friend Samantha too....depends when her next free evening is. Date night is hopefully with friends Jeff and Kendra at The Creperie...again depending if they can get a babysitter.

Men more intelligent than women?

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4183166.stm


Interesting that this 'research' was done by two MEN!!!!!!

Scenes from our walk.....





A few extra pictures from our walk yesterday....Lloyd relaxing while I took pictures, Sam reading the information signs......sunlight catching everyone as they walk through the trees......having fun with the leaves....

having a rest......





Sam joined the girls for some fun in the leaves....

Fun in the leaves....






I wish you could photograph the sound of crunching through the Fall leaves.....and the sound of the girls giggling as they threw leaves at each other!

On the rock......


A picture with Mom......

Lloyds idea of a picture of me....


He says this is his favourite shot because he loves my bum lol......trust me to ask him to take a picture of me lol!

Group pictures......






A few large group pictures...I took about 550 pictures in all but out of 10 group pictures you maybe get ONE where everyone is looking with eyes open and not scratching or blinking or looking odd or whatever lol! Sooooo NOT easy :)

The Girls......



All five....(so not easy!!!)



Samuel



Abigail...


Susannah...


Laurence.....



Christopher.....


Our Annual Fall Walk......


Yesterday was such a gorgeous day - it was 20c at Elk Island Park....just BEAUTIFUL! Every year around this time, we drive out to Elk Island Park and walk the same trail - the Beaver Pond Trail - and stop frequently along the walk to take our Fall pictures.

I love that this has become a family tradition. I love that we can look back on years past and see the children posing on the same old logs and by the same pretty trees. We have pictures with just four children, pictures with Sam in the sling and pictures with all 5 children.

The Beaver Pond Trail is such a great trail for photographs, with rocks positioned nicely, old logs just perfect beside Fall foliage...and lots of dry leafy trails for the children to play in.

I hope we come back here for many years and slowly add girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives.....children and grandchildren to the pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving Day to you All!



It's Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, the first and original Thanksgiving :) Thanksgiving Day is a bigger holiday than Christmas to many Canadians and is very much a family day!

I can't wait until we have Grandchildren and Thanksgiving becomes a big family holiday for us too! But for now, we have a quiet day relaxing at home, a large Christmas style dinner followed by delicious Pumpkin Pie with cream :)

Over dinner, we take it in turns to tell each other what we are most thankful for this year. So, what are you Thankful for?
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