Friday, January 25, 2008

Big Kids can Lapbook Too

Reading homeschooling blogs has brought about a fascination with lapbooking. It's an idea I love. So I wanted to make one. The first one I made was about rocks and minerals. I used something we were studying in school at the time to make it easier so I could focus more on just making my first lapbook. It was so much fun! After that I used an online guide to make one about Halloween.
I've shown these to most of my friends and it makes me sad that they don't understand why I did them if they weren't for school. I wish more people my age realized that learning can actually be fun! That's one of the things I hate most about public schools is that they take the fun out of learning.
Anyways, enough of that. Here are my lapbooks!



Details: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferannifer/tags/geologylapbook/




To help keep the folder closed I put velcro circles on the backs of pictures.

Details: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferannifer/tags/halloweenlapbook/


This is the guide I used (and tweaked) for the Halloween lapbook: http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/halloween.htm

My next project is going to be to start a 50 States notebook instead of the lapbook on just Illinois I was planning to do (I was going to use this). This way I can have facts about every state and a good use for all the souvenirs and knick-knacks I always end up with!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Brand-New

After years of blogging in various places off and on I decided I want a new blog. As the name implies it will be academic-related topics. Academic doesn't just mean school to me though. It also means music and vacations and reading and all the other every day occurrences that help us learn. As in introduction, here is an overview of the things I'm sure to talk about a lot:

Music: I have taken lessons in piano for a number of years now. I think I have the greatest piano teacher. Instead of being strict and formally he lets me choose what to learn and doesn't scold or chide about anything. I also take flute lessons; I started playing about a year ago. My favorite instrument though is my prim. A prim is a type of tambura, a traditional Croatian string instrument. I play in an adult and a junior group that are both part of the Croatian Fraternal Union. Each group performs in a big festival every year. In both groups we play traditional songs and sing as well. In the junior group we also do traditional dances and wear traditional costumes for festivals.

School: I am a junior in high school at a very poor public school. My school does have a lot of electives which I love, but we are on the state financial watch list so that may not last long. I don't like public education. I plan to try to convince my mom (who doesn't like homeschooling) to let me homeschool myself for my senior year. My dad has no problem with the idea of homeschooling. He doesn't want me to go to college for a degree either; he encourages me to go into business for myself instead.

Homeschooling: I read nearly everything I can about homeschooling. I love the idea and sometimes get anxious to have kids and begin homeschooling them.

Work: I have an after school job at a chiropractor's office. I do miscellaneous things like filing and cleaning.

Business: A few years ago I started attending real estate classes and seminars with my dad; I can now say with confidence that I know more about real estate investing than most adults. I have plans to own real estate when I am older, but the market is horrible right now. Since I turned 17 I have also began going to meetings and trainings with my dad for Pre-Paid Legal. Pre-Paid Legal is network marketing, but not in the traditional sense. Since I'm not old enough to be a member yet my dad has set up a corporation I can use that I will get full ownership of when I'm older.

Of course there will be more, but I think this will suffice as an introduction.