Guest Blogger: A Homeschooled Child Who Lived It!

On February 6th I will have a guest blogger coming to give us all some insight into homeschooling that we as parents might not have. I know I struggle with what Coral will think of me when she gets her GED and goes off to live her life away from me. Come join me to welcome author Kelly D. Smith, as she gives us some insight into the life of a homeschooled child.

Kelly D. Smith is a paranormal/fantasy/urban fantasy and contemporary romance author. Born in the GTA [Greater Toronto Area] Kelly moved to the woods of Quebec when she was 14 years old but currently lives in Saskatchewan. A gypsy at heart, she has lived in 7 homes in 7 years and loves traveling, which you can often see in her writing. Being homeschooled her entire life Kelly was able to dedicate her time to reading and writing. When she turned 18 she attained her GED and has never looked back with regret. Currently Kelly lives in a small farm house with her dogs. Kelly always welcomes comments or questions from her readers and can be found on Twitter & Facebook.

Coral's Book: Marshmallow Girl Saves the Day

Marshmallow Girl Saves the Day, by Coral

This is Marshmallow Girl.

She has a stinger.

OUCH!!

She is a superhero.

Oh no! Bank Robbers!

Marshmallow Girl to the rescue!

The bank robbers are defeated.

HEY! Marshmallow girl saves the day.

Yes, I know I misspelled marshmallow in the last two instances.
No, I don't know what overcame my good sense.

Abstraction in The Slamdunk Homeschool

My wonderful 3-year-old is beginning to scare me. No, he's not a sociopath or psychopath. He's freaking smart! He's making connections that I don't expect from 9-year olds, much less 3-year-olds!

Definitions first.

Abstraction:

     The quality of dealing with ideas rather than events.

Abstract thinking:

     Abstract thinking is a level of thinking about things that is removed from the facts of the “here        and now”, and from specific examples of the things or concepts being thought about.

Here is an example of an abstract connection:

My father and I were discussing to possibility of water at the center the moon. I immediately jumped to: "That would explain why it's lopsided."

We were not discussing size or shape, but the abstract thought of size and shape came up under the theoretical discussion.

The reason why middle schoolers are so much fun is because they are just beginning the journey into abstract thought. I love seeing the connections happen for middle-schoolers. They become infinitely more interesting with this development in their ability to cogitate.

What does this have to do with a 3-year-old?

Me, zipping up my son's coat There you are, Leif. Ready to go.

Leif: I am Leif, and I am Bubby.

What I can't show you and what I am going to feebly attempt to explain was the light that went off in his head just after I said his name. It was just a split second and I would have missed it if I didn't have a habit of making eye contact with my children when I talk to them. It wasn't a recognition of name versus nickname, it was a statement of being. I am this and I am that and they are the same but they are different. I've worked through this so many times and I just can't explain it correctly except to say, trust me, this was an abstract thought.

This is just a single small example of an abstract connection my son is making. He's doing it more often now. Nearly everyday, sometimes more than once, he has a thought that he shares that is a bit beyond his developmental stage. It's a little scary, and recently he told me that he wanted me to teach him how to spell. He's doing it too, with his mouth, with his hands (ASL), and writing (with help, he isn't that developed in his fine motor skills).

He's going to be reading soon, I have a feeling he will be a reader before he is a kindergartner.

And honestly, I am scared. How am I going to keep up with him? How will I keep him interested in school when he learns so freaking fast. And how am I going to make sure Coral doesn't develop a complex about the competition that will inevitably form between her and her brother.

I'll be doing a lot of reading to prepare for Leif, and to help Coral be who she is without feel deficient because she isn't like her brother. Suggestions, anyone?

The face of my love and my fear.

Slamdunk: What Happens When You Confront Your Student With the Facts of Life

Yesterday I warned Coral about this semester's workload. I informed her that we would be spending the majority of our time reading and writing. She is behind the curve in the reading department because I haven't pressed her as hard as traditional schools press students in this area.

She has a few very strong innate abilities--art is her life, math is becoming one victory after another for her. She loves learning science--her questions never end.

"Why do we cough?"
"What happens if we get too much blood inside us?"
"What kinds of animals hibernate?"
"Where are the birds going?"
"What do fish eat?"
And on and on.

I love this about her! She makes my life interesting with all the wonderful questions she asks and we learn so much following her trains of thought. But I haven't pressed her to do her own reading. I was so focused on enjoying her ride that I let it slip. I became aware of how behind she is this Christmas when she and her friend wrote a letter to Santa. I should say, Coral dictated to her friend. Coral does write, and she reads, but she isn't much more than a beginner at either.

This semester I am going to lead her through her beginning stages and into the wonderful world of reading for delight and information. This is going to be a challenge for her because she gets her letters mixed up frequently. We are going to work it hard, and my lovely daughter surprised me when I informed her of the plan. She said, "Sounds good!"

Stop. Breath. Reboot.

"Sounds good!"

This is the face of a beautiful mind.

Self-Publishing the Slamdunk Way

Recently, I self-published to Amazon. By recently, I mean I published on December 16, 2014. It was a bit of a rash decision. Naturally. I've had a steep learning curve since I unthinkingly decided to put my book out there.

First of all, I have to say, I WIN at Twitter. Seriously. It took me about three days to figure it out and get it going. My account has been snow-balling since. I get retweeted, favorited, and followed in these bursts of notifications to my phone that sometimes take all my battery power and leave me stranded without a phone. Not a bad problem to have, but it is a full-time job keeping up with my twitterverse.

Second, did you know there was a way to have your own author page on Amazon? I didn't until today. Three weeks into self-publishing and I only just learned this. This is what I'm talking about when I say a steep learning curve.

I made a Facebook fan page and it was an uphill battle to get it to be what I wanted it to be. But I figured it out when I set out to like some other indie authors' fan pages with my author profile. I put step by step instructions on Goodreads for my new friends there.

Speaking of which, Goodreads. Did. Not. Know. It. Existed. Until I published. I went searching for places to promote and found Goodreads.com. It has become my refuge from the self-promoting and advertising around the web. I am part of the Read Romance, Write Romance group (among others), and those authors and readers have helped me so much just by being a fun group I can talk with about my book, their books, publishing, social media obstacles, and nothing at all. I've fallen in love with that group. I don't think I would be writing this blog post without them.

I am still learning, jumping into this self-publishing business with both feet and finding myself learning more today about social media than I have in the last decade. It's the Slamdunk way: fake it til you make it!