Audio Books

Audio Books have been the most rewarding aspect of my homeschool experience.

Here are a few of our personal favorites:

We started in the first grade with E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. If you want to be forever hooked on audio books this is a great place to start. The barnyard simply comes alive. White’s descriptions of the farm and the surrounding countryside paint a picture clearer than any cartoon, incredibly vibrant with color and activity. My son and I listened together in the car, stimulating ideas and conversations and resulting in a bonding I had not expected. We continue to listen together to this day and he is now in the 9th grade.

Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo was my personal favorite. I was reluctant to try it because I was not a fan of the movie, but we had listened to Because of Winn Dixie and had really enjoyed it. Surprisingly, Despereaux is a literal feast for your ears. The author addresses the “listener” directly in a magical moment that is very intimate. Light is a character and the entire work is enchanting even beyond the realm of children’s literature.
The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles is read to you by Sandra Dunkin. Anyone old enough to have watched Charlie’s Angels will be sold already. This is not just an American baseball story. The characters are incredibly endearing and difficult subjects of life and death are addressed amid references to Walt Witman’s poetry. We listen to this story every baseball season.

Artemis Fowl is a series of 8 books, recommended for grades 4 to 8. On audio, younger students can access it and I know as an adult I loved every minute of all eight books. Artemis is an anti-hero who undergoes a personal transformation amid fairies, centaurs, and dwarves. These novels can occupy hours of time as you traverse the landscape of Artemis’ world. The first movie is due to be released from Disney Studios on May 29th so this would be a great series to delve into. I can also recommend every book that Eoin Colfer writes, including The Wish List, Supernaturalist, and Airman.

In a recent journey into historical fiction, my son and I listened to A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen. In this story a family is divided when the Berlin wall is erected overnight. It depicts one family’s attempt to become reunited. Although fictional, the account immerses the listener squarely into the conflict. I was so wrapped up in these characters I was grateful we had a number of long drives that month!

We are particular about our audio books. The quality is very important, as is the reader. We have not listened to classics that we know we love because the audio did not appeal to us. If you do not fall in love with the reader, try another version or stop listening. In our house these books are our entertainment and a special time for mother and son. If the quality of the production does not make you feel like you are drinking an excellent cup of coffee with your best friend, try again.

List of audio books I recommend:

• 5 Kingdoms* (Brandon Mull) 
• 39 Clues* (various, including Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Roland Smith, David Baldacci, Jeff Hirsch, Natalie Standiford, C. Alexander London, Sarwat Chadda and Jenny Goebel)
• 100 Cupboards (a little scary) (N.D. Wilson)
• A Night Divided (Jennifer A. Nielsen)
• Airman (Eoin Colfer)
• Artemis Fowl* (Eoin Colfer)
• Aurora County All Stars (Deborah Wiles)
• Because of Winn Dixie (Kate DiCamillo)
• Bunnicula* (James Howe, Deborah Howe)
• Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
• Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo)
• Five Children and It (Edith Nesbit)
• Freak the Mighty (Rodman Philbrick)
• Fudge (some disrespect)* (Judy Blume)
• Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
• Hero (Jennifer Li Schotz)
• Holes (Louis Sachar)
• How to Eat Fried Worms (Thomas Rockwell)
• Indian In the Cupboard* (Lynne Reid Banks)
• Joshua Dread* (Lee Bacon)Penderwicks* (Jeanne Birdsall)
• Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
• Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien and Jane Leslie Conly)
• Supernaturalist (Eoin Colfer)
• View from Sunday (E. L. Konigsburg)
• Watership Down (Richard Adams)
• Wings of Fire* (Tui T. Sutherland)
• Wish List (Eoin Colfer)\

Joshua has listened to some on his own and these are some of his recommendations:

• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* (Douglas Adams, Eoin Colfer, Thomas Tidholm
• Spy School* (Stuart Gibbs)
• The Beyonders* (Brandon Mull)
• The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel* ( Michael Scott)

* Each of these represents a series of 3 or more books.

 
Many audio books can be borrowed from your local library. You will need the Overdrive or Libby app on your phone, tablet or computer, and a library card with the internet access enabled. You can collect library cards and have access to more than one library collection. You can also invest in paid audio book apps like Audible and ChirpBooks. These apps sometimes offer free audiobooks; Audible even has originals you may not find elsewhere. Do the work it takes to get this started and then gather warm blankets and spend time with your kids. Or simply use the time in the car more constructively by listening together during long trips. Discuss the vocabulary and quiz their comprehension by having conversations about the character and the plot. Discuss how the characters are acting and compare them to your own values. How are decisions being made? How would you or your child do something differently - or the same? Ultimately, these shared experiences will result in building and strengthening aspects of your relationship that you could not have foreseen. Reading together is a lot like going on an adventure, giving you shared experiences and quotes from these books you’ll grow to love. Do you have books you already enjoy and would like to recommend? Let us know - we are always looking!

MATH

"Some People Aren't Cut Out to do Math” 

This is an actual quote from a loved one’s math teacher, a hurtful and untrue statement that has never been forgotten.Children's lack of success in math has a great deal to do with the attitude of those around them. Just like learning to draw or master a sport, math takes consistent encouragement and effort. Many have said - or been told - that they are not gifted at math. A large portion of the population believes math requires a certain aptitude. This is a common misconception that few work to dispel. Admittedly, there is a small percentage of the highest performing individuals that have genetics on their side, but even these are not successful without effort and persistence. 

An athlete does not walk onto the field a champion; he must put forth consistent effort, study, push and motivate himself.

Most families do not take this same approach with math. In the traditional school setting, teachers are doing their best with large classrooms of students; individualized attention is not always the norm. As first- and second- grade students start to slip behind the achievements of their peers, they begin to believe the lie. Their self talk deteriorates exponentially when they are teased by their peers, recieve an offhand negative comment from a teacher, or hear their parent who says,"I was never good at math either.” As a math teacher, I often hear this statement from parents of struggling students. 

Math is a learned skill. It is a result of good instruction and good study habits. An artist does not put a pencil in his hand for the first time and create a da Vinci. Time, effort, repeated practice, and study make an artist. Students do not understand that most of all people who succeed in math are those who have put in the time. There is a small percentage that may have genetics on their side but even these have to work and apply their gifts in order to succeed.

What you can do to encourage your math student today: 

1. Good instruction. Khan Academy is a website that puts good instruction videos within reach of anyone with internet access. Parents can get help for their children 24 hours a day, from simple addition and math sense all the way through calculus. Sal Khan is truly a gifted teacher. https://www.khanacademy.org/

2. Create a quiet place. This can be very challenging with everyone home at once. Try using headphones with music to cancel distractions. I always allowed my son to choose his music, with the condition that he did his work and it was correct. If his work was incorrect and sloppy, I picked the tune; he always got to keep his music.

3. Set a timer. How long can your student sit and attend to his studies before needing a break? Three, twenty minute sessions are the exact same as one long hour. In fact, your student’s focus may be better with shorter sessions.

4. Check your student’s work. If you want your student to learn something it must be practiced correctly. Checking your student’s work regularly takes the most discipline on the parents’ part. Get the answer key and check their work. Do not leave them alone with their lessons until you are sure they can do the work correctly, without frustration.

Learning math can be a very rewarding experience. 

Think of this as a time when the whole family can get a little better in math. Do math daily and check the work. You can do this even if you bought the lie that you were never good in math. You may even surprise yourself with your abilities!

Unit Studies

A Lesson that Applies to all Grades 

New homeschool families determine how they will approach teaching at home, whether consciously or not. In the homeschool world, there is a continuum that ranges from school at home, establishing a classroom and emulating the schedule and coursework that is provided from the school system, to unschooling, a method where students are enriched with hands on activities and teachable moments veering far away from the textbooks and worksheets. For myself, I was far from an unschooler, but I did not set up a classroom at home and rejected most computer based learning in favor of hands-on activities. Every teacher/parent will find their own comfort zone. In today's unusual situation, the school systems are trying to put out guidelines, activities and curriculum so that school at home will be the model. Even so, there are things that parents can do, or even request of the teachers, in order to make the learning environment work in your home.

Unit studies are my favorite way to teach. Teachers and students immerse themselves in one theme over multiple subjects. It is an instructional time when every assignment relates to one larger subject.

For example, if your student wants to learn about sharks, all his reading should be about sharks. His vocabulary should be about sharks, oceans and the environment. Once research has been done, the student can write creatively or in the style of a report. An art project can lend support to this study. Documentaries can be watched. In our house we have a book by Ray Troll, an Alaskan artist, who has beautifully illustrated a scientific picture book about sharks. Students can make an informational video about all they have learned to document their growth.

This is but one small example. This method of teaching applies to all grade levels. A high school example could be a Shakespearian unit study. Students can read plays, watch movies, unpack the language and learn how to read a play. They can study the historic time period, recreate the Shakespearean Theatre, and study his life. They can write their own play. This unit would encompass reading, writing and history. Unit studies allow teachers/parents to “double dip” and get quality writing assignments that are meaningful while studying.

When my son was in Elementary school we had access to the “5 In a Row” Curriculum by Jane Lambert, 

which is now available for purchase online https://fiveinarow.com/blog/ . This curriculum uses classic children’s literature like, “Blueberries for Sal,” “Mike Mulligan and His Amazing Steam Shovel,” and “Make Way for the Ducklings.” These beloved stories are read every day for a week and all of the student’s activities relate to the stories. This is a wonderful way to spend a week.

Many completed resources for this method of teaching are available online, complete with activities and vocabulary. When on the internet, include the words “unit study” in the search. Spring break is an excellent time to gather everything needed to launch a new unit study when homeschool requirements return. 

One unit study we did when my son was in second and third grade utilized the "39 Clues". We read the books out loud as a family at night and during the day my son and I studied about the places and people in the book. Each book visits a different country and highlights a historical figure. The books took us all over the world. We learned about Mozart, the Czars of Russia, and Ben Franklin to name a few.
The fondest memories I have from my homeschool experiences involve unit studies. In the 6th grade, my son wanted to learn about the bark beetle epidemic that was invading our forests in California. We began in our unit study fashion of researching and reading everything we could about the bark beetle. He continued to work on this study all year and it turned into an award winning science project. He put all he learned into a report that was written one paragraph at a time over a year and completed an experiment to support his findings. The work was painless and endlessly rewarding.

As we all adjust to how this school year is being completed, I hope for the best for you and your family. Make the most out of this time. Read together, listen to music, walk, bake cookies and study together. I know there will be struggles and times when you lament this task but make the most of this unique opportunity. Breathe deep.  Be Present. Don’t miss this. 

Introduction

My name is Catherine Brison.  I began teaching homeschool 10 years ago, when  my then- kindergartener, Joshua. My husband and I chose to homeschool Joshua because we were living in Sequoia National Park and we could not bring ourselves to put him in a classroom when we were living in such a unique world. We hiked, played in the river, went to the library and worked on teaching him to read. It was a very rewarding experience.

Later that year, we moved out of the park. My husband’s job took him to Angels Camp, California where we found a charter school that was an enrichment to help homeschoolers. The school provided a mentor teacher, a curriculum and supportive classes we could sign up for. Over the next three years, we participated on campus in many activities and classes, including science, math and art classes. In spite of considerable effort, my son was not learning to read. A Sunday school teacher, who was also a special educator, pointed out that he seemed to have a visual-spatial learning disability and that we should investigate this. This is not a common disability, making research difficult to find. I took him to a specialist who concurred that he was definitely struggling, not with his vision, but in the way his eyes and his brain were communicating. His eyes and muscles were working very hard to achieve the schoolwork he was producing. This revelation explained the headaches, exhaustion and anxiety he was experiencing. The school tested him for special education services. All of the research I had done led me to continue my own education. I chose to obtain a masters degree in special education which qualified me to teach, in addition, it helped me more clearly understand mountain of paperwork that came with his new IEP.

The school my son was enrolled in accepted me for my student teaching session, and then hired me as a resource teacher in 2015. In this capacity, I have taught students individually as their resource teacher, and have taught art classes, and this year I began teaching a math class for math essentials to help prepare students for pre-algebra. In addition to teaching others, I continued to teach my son up until the 8th grade. He is truly a success story and I am so proud of him. He has transferred over to the local high school and is doing very well academically. He has worked hard to learn effective strategies and is utilizing them in the new setting to his own success.

In the past 10 years of teaching, I have accumulated information I can now share with others. Because I am a homeschool parent and I have a teaching credential, I can speak to teaching quality education at home. - something we are all transition to across the globe.  As difficult as this journey has been so far, we can use this as an opportunity to learn from each other. I want a place to offer some of my experience to parents and educators who may suddenly find themselves in need of it.

My circumstances have evolved in the past 4 years.  My son returned to "brick and mortar" education.  He did very well in this setting except for a lack of challenge.  We as a family feel that we continued to homeschool him but with the public high school providing his curriculum.  This freed us up to pursue our interests as a family and leave much of the bookwork to the school system.  This worked well for us for the most part.  My son graduated at the top of his class in 2023.  We are very proud of his accomplishment and he is now headed to Oklahoma University to study Mechanical Engineering.  He is one of the many non-traditional schooled success stories.

I currently have what I consider to be a very challenging job.  I teach Algebra 2 to special education students at one of the largest high schools in my state.  I spend most of my time dealing with trauma issues, behavior, study skills, relational skills and illegal drug issues.  This is a far cry from the homeschool world but each year I am growing and learning how to best serve my students and meet them where they are to grow their math and life skills. 

My biggest piece of advice is to tell parents that your student will learn out of your relationship. If you are fighting and pulling your student through this process you will want to think outside the box. Try something different other than nagging, fighting and threatening (I am a mom too). Successful strategies are partly dependent on you and your child and - to some degree - your existing relationship. Ultimately, your teaching successes will become their learning successes, and when you achieve those milestones - big and small - you will be amazed at the level of fulfillment and joy for learning you will both feel. Here’s to getting you and your student on the same page and through this school year together!