Nominated!

Wow! I am so grateful and happy to be part of this again this year!

Canadian Home Learning was nominated in two categories this year:

"Favourite Homeschool Mom Blog"

and "Best Homeschooling Nature/Field Trip Blog".

If you have a moment, please go vote. If you have a little more than a moment, I advise you to check out all the other awesome  homeschooling blogs that were nominated too!

Here is the post to visit to find all the nominees by category and to cast your vote:Let Your Vote Be Counted!

Thank you!!!

Back to Posting...

I am back to posting a little. I find it funny that whenever I decide to take a break, I find ideas for posting and sharing!!

I have made a difficult decision but one that I hope you will understand. I decided to close the Book Sharing Monday posts. You can access all the archives of these book loving posts in the tabs, right below the main blog title. There is over 125 book sharing posts I wrote! I will continue to share with you our favourite books, but it won't be a regular Monday feature. I hope you will continue to talk about your favourite children books on your own blogs, I have discovered many interesting books from you! Thank you to all that participated over the last two years (actually more, since December 2008!).

Finally, I wanted to share a little bit about our day today. We took some time today to learn about the Elections in Canada. Adrienne and I researched information about each political party and each leader and local representative for each party. I have voted in the past, and my husband and I voted again today. I do feel that I learned more about Canadian politics today and I know that Adrienne learned a lot too. She had strong opinions about how she would vote if she could! We will be studying the results together as well and what they mean for our country.

Weekly Wrap-Up ~ Screen-Free Week and a Break from Blogging

This past week was Scree-Free Week and we had all agreed to stay off any screens for seven days. We all realized very fast that this wasn't going to work. It worked for us in the past, but not this year. The television and video games were easy to keep off, it was the internet that wasn't! We kept finding ourselves "needing" to get online. Adrienne needed to do research for her current essay, we found ourselves wanting to look things up for our Canadian History, and there were many more occasions! 

We did watch one documentary, Babies. We had been waiting our turn at the library for this one for a long time! 



Babies is a great documentary. We all really loved it! It was a great tie-in for our World Geography study, seeing the living conditions of the African baby and the Mongolian one, compared to the Tokyo and USA. Here is a trailer. We were able to get this from our local library, so check yours too!

The rest of the week was uneventful. We completed our regular subjects.

In World Geography, we are now studying India. In Canadian History, we are now in the 1970s!

If you would like to read other homeschool families wrap-up posts, you can visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

I will be taking a break from blogging for a while. I have always told myself that when blogging becomes "something I have to do" instead of "something I enjoy", I would give myself a break from it. I feel this way about blogging right now. Spring is a time when I want to be outdoors more, enjoying our beautiful weather and nature with my children.

Book Sharing Monday will be on hold, but I hope you continue posting on your own blogs. There are many (126 at last count!) Book Sharing Monday posts I have written, you can visit previous ones here. 

I will be back soon, hope you will have a fun-filled time too! 

I am so surprised and happy to be nominated in 5 different categories for the Homeschool Blog Awards!!!

You can find Canadian Home Learning listed in:

- Best Homeschool Mom Blog

- Best Blog Design

- Best Photos & Artistic Content

- Best Crafts, Plans & Projects Blog

- Best Encourager

The voting is open until midnight, November 18th (central time). There are some really cool homeschool-related prizes to be won, but really I am just happy to be part of this!
You can vote by clicking on this link. The list of all the categories are towards the bottom of the post. Click each category and then find Canadian Home Learning. Clicking on the name brings you to each blog, clicking on the circle enters your vote.

Thank you!!

Advice for a wanna-be-unschooler from freeplaylife

I have enjoyed reading freeplaylife's posts on unschooling and homeschooling for the last few months. I also feel like I have connected with Tiffani (as much as you can in the virtual world) through her self portrait BAM project on flickr. She is a beautiful, fun loving, inspiring woman.

I have been thinking a lot these past few weeks about our homeschooling life. The kids and I have been into a routine since the summer, and it works. It works, but that's about it. I feel at times that we have lost that love of learning and that we are just checking things off a list. That love of learning that we have when we follow a particular interest, passion, or do a really cool project like Mystery Class.

I decided a few days ago to send a personal e-mail to Tiffani from freeplaylife and ask her this simple question:

"When you have a minute, I would love to hear your top 5 advice for a wanna-be-unschooler like me. I will go and read more on your blog later, but I figured you probably have some tips or insights...I have noticed that we are all getting bored of always doing the same thing. My oldest is even considering going to high school... We need to get the love of learning back in our house."  I thought maybe she would send me an e-mail back with a few points when she had a chance, but instead she decided to make a series of posts on her blog! So far, she has written two excellent posts, and I can't wait for the rest.

You can read the first one "Advice for a wannabe unschooler: Widen your Concept of Education" , and the second one "Advice for a wannabe unschooler: Get to Know Your Child as their own Person". I have called myself a wanna-be-unschooler for a few years now, always thinking that I couldn't completely unschool my kids. I have read a lot about unschooling and we also have unschooled friends. As time goes on, though, I am realizing that maybe we could, in our own version,  unschool. I shared a quote today on my facebook from John Holt, and it reflects very nicely how I feel about education at this point:

‎"Since we can’t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned." 

A love of learning and an ability to teach yourself is what I hope to give to my children.

I am looking forward to the next posts and the advice that Tiff will share with all of us on her blog. The second post put a smile on my face when I read it, it made me feel good. I do feel I know my children very well and we have done many of the things on her fun list. It gives me hope that we could do this “unschool” stuff!  

I was tagged!

Barb from Harmony Art Mom tagged me yesterday in a post!

She said "There's a game of tag going around the blogosphere. Someone tags you with 8 questions to answer. You answer them, and then tag some other blogger buddies with your own set of questions".

She asked (my answer in italic):

1. Do you use a bookmark or do you turn pages down? How many books do you read at a time? For Bible readers-Do you write in your Bible?
I use both methods. For library books, I usually use a bookmark and for my own books I turn the pages down. I sometimes read two books at a time, but usually just one. With non-fiction books, I like to take notes while I read.

2. Where do you dream of traveling some day? Alone with your dh or with your children?
My kids and I were just talking about that! I have many places I would like to travel to. I was fortunate to travel a lot when I was growing up, but there are still many places I would like to visit. Brazil, Peru, Russia, Netherlands, Norway, China, Thailand, New Zealand. I also want to visit Oregon, California, Washington DC, and in Canada all the Atlantic Provinces, Alberta and British Columbia. I would be happy to visit all these places with my husband and my children. If I were to go somewhere by myself, then I would pick France, to visit my mother, siblings and friends.

3. What is your favorite household chore?
I enjoy vacuuming and washing mirrors.


4. What is a personal goal you have made this year?
To keep running, consistently, at least three times a week.


5. How many blogs do you read every week? What attracts you to certain blogs?
I am not sure how many blogs I read a week, probably around 25 or so. I have a lot in my Google Reader and on the side of my blog, but I don't read them all the time. I can't find enough time for all of them! I am attracted by beautiful photos and topics that interest me. Some blogs I read regularly relate to homeschooling and unschooling, but I also read a few about simple living, quilting, sewing, and books.
 

Now it's my turn to tag a few blogging friends and ask questions...
 
I liked Barb's idea of tagging people that left comments during that week on her blog, so I will do the same.
 
Fiddler from Rockhound Place
Tracy from Secular Nature Homeschool
Lori from Keeping it Simple
Sheri from Our Pace
Playing by the Book
Red Ted Art's Blog
 
I also think five questions is plenty...so here are my five. If you see your name in the list above, play along by answering these on your blog and if you don't see your name, but want to play too, then TAG! you're it!
 
My questions, with a "favourite" theme:
 
1. I have been looking for some simple but interesting halloween crafts/decorations, what is your favourite one to do with your children? please include a link if you have one.
 
2. What is your favourite way to spend a rainy day with your children?
 
3. What is your favourite fall food?
 
4. What is your current favourite read aloud book?
 
5. Last one just for Mom..what is your favourite novel?
 
Have fun!

Change in name

You may have noticed the change in name on this blog. Canadian Home Learning is the name I started off with, and it's the name used for the blog address. I have been thinking about changing this blog's name for a while and instead of using a brand new one, chose to stay with the original. It represents us, we are Canadians and I feel that "home learning" is more fitting to us than home school.

A Blog with Substance Award x2!

I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago to receive an award by Barb at Handbook of Nature Study blog. She is giving me an award? I thought it should be the other way around! But I gladly accept it and pass it on. Then, a couple of days after, I received the same award from Makita from Academia Celestia! Again, I felt the same way, Makita's blog is great and I think of her as a friend, even though we have never met in real life.

So now it is my turn to pass this award along.

Here are the Award Rules, if you find yourself the recipient of this award. I hope you will pass it along!

•Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.


•Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using ten (10) words.


•Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.


My philosophy, motivation, and experience on blogging....

Blogging is good for my creativity and hopefully is helpful. 

Here are my 10 choices, in no particular order:

Kris from At Home Science  keeps an excellent blog for anything related to science, books, websites, reviews and more. I have learned a lot by visiting this blog.

Leslie at Home-Grown Love is a homeschool mom of 3 who participates regularly in my Book Sharing Monday. She hosts the 100 books a month challenge!

Our Pace is a regular participant of Book Sharing Monday and a real life homeschool friend. I really enjoy reading her posts, even when we have matching photos sometimes!

LegoQuest Kids is an awesome site for homeschoolers/unschoolers to participate in weekly lego challenges. If your kids like building with legos, make sure to check it out!

Rockhound Place is another great homeschooling blog that participates in Book Sharing Monday too! I like reading her posts, it feels like chatting with another homeschool mom.

Carol at You're Not Lost, You're Here is real life friend and actually got me started in the world of blogging (thanks Carol!). Check out her "Eating Our Way Around the World" posts!

Freeplaylife is a new-to-me blog, but it looks excellent so far. I am a visual person and love photography and this blog is a great combination of great photos with interesting posts. 

School for Us is a pleasure to read. I like reading her posts about homeschooling and all their travels. Great pictures too!

Jimmie's Collage  is, I think, well known with homeschool moms, but I have to pass the reward to her as well because she truly deserves it. She has given me many ideas over the years. Thank you Jimmie!

Practical Pages is like a treasure chest for homeschool moms. A ton of free resources, printable and ideas in various subjects.  

My 10 picks for the Blog with Substance reward. It took me almost a week to get this post together! There are so many wonderful blogs out there kept by awesome homeschool moms, it made it very difficult to choose. You can see more blogs in my links on the left side of this blog, under homeschooling and unschooling families.

I hope you will visit these blogs and enjoy them!