Teaching with the Beatles

Anyone who has tried to teach a child, especially a very young child, comes to realize quickly that music plays a very important role in getting the material to stick in the child's memory. Studies have been conducted that the music of Mozart can actually improve a child's math skills. It is thought that it somehow stimulates the part of the brain that processes mathematical equations. There may be numerous genres of music available that are not necessarily beneficial to learning, but if facts set to a tune help get the message across, it's a fantastic learning tool.

The Beatles have been an American icon since they first came onto the United States' music scene in February of 1964. They may not stimulate mathematical processing in the brain, but they did change the way music was played throughout America. By today's standards, their original sound was really quite basic. With a strong guitar sound and British accents, the group was a sensation. In July, one of their photos from their first concert will be auctioned off through Christies. You can find out more about this auction, the photo and the photographer here. Many musical groups have taken on the sound and look of the Beatles throughout the years. One such group is called Ticket To The Beatles!

With all this love for the sound of the Beatles, maybe their songs can inspire learning. Here's a few videos that use the music of the Beatles to teach other facts:

Let It Be - Letter B:

Beatles parody (II) - Sesame Street by beautifulcynic

Hello Goodbye: Early reading/opposites:


Back in the USSSR: History/Ulysses S. Grant:


Help - Science/Electrons:


Help - Very fun artistic typography:


Imagine - Math:


Asteroids Across the Universe - Science:

A Homeschool Haiku

As part of the Blogathon 2011, Haiku day was yesterday. I had other things to write about yesterday, so today I am writing my Haiku. When teaching poetry and literature, Haiku poetry is a fun technique to get children interested in writing poetry and in encouraging learning rhythm by clapping out the syllables. There are technically more than one form of Haiku poetry, but the basic Haiku is 3 lines of a poem that does not rhyme and has a 5 syllable 7 syllable 5 syllable pattern. Following is my Haiku on homeschooling:

Why do I home school?

Socialization for one

Solid teaching too

This Blog Could Be One Of The Top 25 - Will You Help?

UPDATE 5/13/11: THANK YOU!!! This blog was voted as one of the top 25 Homeschooling Blogs With Circle Of Moms!


This is the last day! This blog has been nominated as one of the Top 25 Homeschooling blog by Circle Of Moms. I have ranked within the top 25 for the duration of the weeks of nomination, but today sunk to #25. It's o.k. if I finish at the bottom, but it would be so cool to finish a winner within the top 25.

I have many purposes for sharing in my blog. Homeschooling is a complicated decision. It is not made without resistance that sometimes comes from the most unexpected sources. Being a good parent is tough. Being a good parent and a good teacher is something that should be respected and honored even if homeschooling is not the decision you feel is right for you or your family. If I encourage one person, I am happy. If I shine light on darkness, I am giddy. And, if I touch someone's heart inspiring them to embrace faith and pass this onto their children, I am complete.

Will you vote? All you have to do is click here and then click on the orange thumbs up button. That's it! Done. But, you only have until 5:00 PST today, Wednesday, May 11. So, please vote now if you would!

A homeschooler's guide to interior decorating

I hear often women who decide to stay home with their children whether they left the work force with a successful position first or never really entered the working world doesn't seem to matter much. When asked what you do for a living, many stay at home moms will answer, "I'm just a mom!" But, the work of a mom who stays home all day is a very important job. The culture in America doesn't allow payment for this position, so she gets paid in hugs and kisses. The culture in America tends to look down their noses at any position that doesn't bring in large paychecks. Add to this the fact that you're not only a stay at home mom, but also a homeschooling stay at home mom and watch the faces shift to display any number of responses.

I realized all the more the importance of what I do as a mom when we decided to purchase new furniture several years ago. We went to a reputable furniture store int he area who provided a designer to come by the house and advise as to her recommendations of what should be in our living room. At the time, I had a just-turned 3 year old son and a very active climber barely toddling daughter. We had a child gate around our fireplace. The bricks were sharp, and I had a heavy mirror resting on the mantle. I didn't want jumping, curious children to cause that mirror to topple on top of them. Nor did I want either of them to fall and get hurt on the bricks. I don't like the emergency room at the hospital that much. So, we put up the child gate which was adjustable to wrap around the fireplace. The designer came in, was friendly enough but then went to work. Her first comment was said in a very condescending tone suggesting that she was here to help us take back the living room for mom and dad, the adults. I didn't like her insinuation, but decided to let it slide. But then the clincher came. She turned and said, "When my daughter was little, I didn't need child gates, I simply told her 'no!'" I think all the air sucked out of my lungs as I stood there trying to remain composed in the face of the obvious insult to not only my decor of child gating but also to my parenting skills. I was apparently inadequate in her eyes.

It took awhile, but I realized what was at the root of her comment. This was a woman who worked full time the entire time her daughter was small. This meant she would wake up early, drop her child off at daycare and go to work all day. She would then pick up her child in the evening and head home or run to a restaurant for dinner. Then, it was off to bed to do it all over again. There was no need for child gates because there was no time for an accidental journey to the fireplace. The child and the mother were hardly ever even at home. On the other hand, my house which had just been criticized was being used as a house, a daycare, a restaurant of sorts (place where we ate), a place to sleep, a place to play, etc. We lived in our home. Sure we went to library programs, church, dance classes, etc. But, we used our house for the purpose of raising our children. They were not sent away so I could earn a living. I do not mean as a cristicsm to her as she had her reasons why she worked and made the decisions to allow someone else to spend the day with her child. And, I had my reasons for putting up child gates for the safety of mine.

I Wasn't Ready To Say Goodbye To My Mom!

It wasn't supposed to be this way. I know I waited to have children far too long, and I'm the youngest of four siblings myself, so expecting my parents to be healthy enough to enjoy their last set of grandchildren from me was a far-fetched hope. Still, my son was supposed to have a grandma. There she laid all but motionless on that hospital bed as we checked off one rare surgical complication after another that she suffered. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my mom and wasn't ready to end what was only 6 months into a grandparent relationship with my new infant son.

This was the mom whose side I would not leave as an infant. I clung to her screaming at any other arms attempting to hold me. She nursed me through severe allergies and worrying over me through asthma-like attacks as an infant, then held me in the hospital after having my tonsils out at only 13 months of age as the nurses left the room due to my screaming upon the sight of them. She was the one who would rock me to sleep and read me bedtime stories in her sleep as she would grow weary of reading and drift off yet continue to read, most likely a memorized story for her because she would read word for word in her sleep to me.

As a child, I would not leave my mom's side. Oh, it wasn't all rosey. Though, she gave me her best, as a late teen and early adult I demanded more. We had our share of arguments - One that ended with me walking out and not speaking to her for months. Thankfully, I came to my senses and began to make amends. I'm glad I did because now she could be a part of my wedding, and now a part of my children's lives too. That's what I thought. That's what I had hoped for anyway.

She is a woman who has a natural gift of hospitality. As a child our doors were opened quite frequently to visitors, traveling missionaries or singing groups who needed a place to stay and relatives. When we moved to St. Louis, we must have visited the Zoo and Arch 27 times in one summer with all the visitors. She is a natural cook. She is quite the chef, though she will tell you it's just something she enjoys and that at one time in her life she was actually quite the picky eater. She values her family. I don't know that I would call her a "Mother Bear" type, but she loves to have her children near. She's a natural grandma too. And, my husband often says she's a great mother-in-law as well. In fact, that day before her surgery, she wasn't thinking of herself as I would probably have been fearful of the outcome. Instead, she looked each one of my siblings and I in the eye and made sure we knew how proud she was of us and how God had answered her prayers for us to find wonderful mates. She was thinking of me while she faced the unknown in that hospital room.

I'm happy to say that as I write this it is 10 1/2 years after those long months spent recovering with showers of prayer over her bedside. She is alive and just celebrated another birthday on Easter this year. She has welcomed not only my son who was 6 months old at the time of her hospital stay, but also my two daughters who love their Grandma. Oh, she no longer drives a car and her mobility is slower due to other issues of hips, knees and bunyons. But, she is alive. She is my children's grandma and she is my mom to whom I have not yet had to say a final goodbye!

Happy Mother's Day!