Inclusive Homeschool

NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program.

This started November 1st. It’s the youth part of the National Novel Writing Month for adults, and runs from November 1st through the 30th, 2008.

Even if your child doesn’t participate in the event, and set a word count goal, they should at least sign up to receive the wonderful pep talks, emails, from various authors. There are, also, three e-workbooks you can download for free on creative writing.

I downloaded the elementary one, and it looks like a pretty helpful resource. Click on the highlighted corresponding words for the middle school and high school workbooks. Better yet, just go to the website and check it out for yourself, visit the forums, get ideas, inspiration and support. The website, itself, is wonderful with writing helps and prompts.

Brhiannon, who is a VERY reluctant writer has started on her novel. I frankly don’t care how far she gets with her word count. What matters is that this site inspired her to try something she normally wouldn’t.

This site is really awesome! I think you would like it a lot. Robert Krampf is funny and he teaches you a lot of science experiments that you can do and learn, and even have some fun.

You have to be a member to see the full videos, but you can see this full video about making butter for free.
http://krampf.com/members/experiment-videos/making-butter I’m going to try it myself, and then I’ll come back and tell you what happens.

It’s $20 a year. I think it’s worth it and I think he’s cute.

Tags: experiments, robert krampf, Science

One of the best videos I’ve seen on consumption and the impact it has on the environment and the world by Annie Leonard, http://www.storyofstuff.com

A description from their website:

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns, with a special focus on the United States. All the stuff in our lives, beginning from the extraction of the resources to make it, through its production, sale, use and disposal, affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues and calls for all of us to create a more sustainable and just world.

I loved it. The fast pace is not initiated by tons of flashy images and a string of 20 second sound bytes. It’s strength comes from the veracity of the facts and statistics and the passion of Annie Leonard. It’s obvious how she leans politically, but since I lean in the same direction, I’m fine with it.

Regardless your political beliefs, the truth Annie Leonard shares about how our consumption is affecting the planet and everyone in it is invaluable. Our rampant consumerism affects everyone…and in the end, without prejudice.

More information about Annie Leonard from her bio on the website:

Annie Leonard is an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, with more than 20 years of experience investigating factories and dumps around the world. Coordinator of the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption, a funder collaborative working for a sustainable and just world, Annie communicates worldwide about the impact of consumerism and materialism on global economies and international health.

With Annie’s first hand experience of witnessing the impact of our consumer driven society, I think Annie has plenty of room to be as passionate and direct as she is in her advocacy.

You know, much is made of “living books” in the homeschool movement, authors who write books on topics they are passionate about. I believe this is a “living video”, as the person with the passion for this subject is the one standing in front of the camera and not a narrator. It definitely comes across.

There are free downloadable pdf files – tips, invitations, taking action, group activities, discussion guides and posters to help facilitate a screening of the movie (which you can download for free, btw). The discussion and group activities pdf files make this a great homeschool resource for use in the home or in co-ops.

This movie is thought provoking and well worth watching. When Brhiannon comes home from her dad’s, we’ll be sure to watch this together and go over some of the discussion questions and activities.

Highly recommended.

Tags: environment, lesson plans, movies, Resources, Resources Free, Reviews-Movies, Science, sustainability, unit studies