Homeschool Family Tips

Little People’s Opinions

Empress — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:23:41 +0000

I have realized that teaching my older kids becomes difficult when my very animated 3 year old wants their attention. I recently made her part of our discussions and although her imput on the matter we are discussing does not make much sense, it lightens up the mood. She learns to wait her turn to talk and the older kids appreciate her cuteness, humor and innocence instead of feeling like “she’s always in the way”. Our day runs pretty smooth, although I still have not found what will work for my 18 month old!

Submitted By: Sandra A.
Visit her site at: www.currclick.com

Handwriting Pages

Empress — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:45:34 +0000

If you have any of the popular downloadable handwriting e-books and aren’t happy with the size of the line spacing… just reduce or enlarge your printer setting a teeny bit!

My daughter needed a little larger space to practice with, so I enlarged the printing by 5% and it still fit the page fine and she was happy! Just a quick thought!

Our favorite Handwriting Copybooks… Happy Scribe Handwriting E-Books

Submitted By: Sherri C.
Visit her site at: www.MobileHomeWoman.com

Personal Change

Empress — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:12:05 +0000

I saw this quote today and I thought about homeschooling… and how we would love to convince every family we meet that homeschooling is so wonderful. I will admit, I’ve been a little over zealous at times, hoping to “convince” another family to change… but I’ve noticed that rarely works… and this quote SO speaks to me about why it doesn’t work!

-Sherri

“Never try to compel others to change; leave them free to change naturally and orderly because they want to; and they will want to when they find that your change was worthwhile.”

“To inspire in others a desire to change for the better is truly nobile; but this you can do only by leaving them alone; and becoming more noble yourself.”

-CHRISTIAN D. LARSON (1874 – 1954)
Mastery of Self

Taking apart stuff

Empress — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:18:19 +0000

If you have an appliance die or some sort of electronic gadget or thing stop working… give it to your kids! A screwdriver, hammer, pair of goggles (of course!) and a broken breadmaker can be an afternoon of excitement for your little people. Take time to examine how it works and what it has in it… we were so surprised that a breadmaker has a little belt and all, almost like a washing machine! And the best part, you can take some of the parts and make art projects or space ship controls in your cardboard box!!! Just remember to never plug anything back in after you take it apart!

Submitted By: Sherri C.
Visit her site at: www.TheMobileHomeWoman.com

Dinner Time Map Learning

Empress — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:33:35 +0000

One of the best things we ever did for learning the countries and landmarks of the world, was to take a full sized poster of the world and place it under a clear tablecloth!

Every time the kids and I sat down at the table, we would look at the map! We would laugh when the ketchup was covering Italy, or challenge each other to find some city or body of water. We could point out areas that were in the news. Pretty quickly, my family had a very good sense of their world geography and it was fun, too!

Submitted By: Sherri C.
Visit her site at: www.DeepwaterBluegrass.com

Journaling Secretary

Empress — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:32:29 +0000

If your child is not able to write out complicated sentences in a journal or projects, yet has a good grasp of the flow of language, spend a little time as their “secretary” and allow them to dictate their thoughts and ideas as you or an older child writes them down.

You’ll find that with repeated use of the secretary, their writing skills will improve dramatically and they will love to re-read their own works on their own too! It makes writing FUN!

Submitted By: Dave R.
Visit his site at: www.journalinglife.com

School Box Totes

Empress — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:31:20 +0000

One of the best things we ever did in homeschooling, was to have each child have a “school box”. We got those plastic totes that are more upright and with a handle. Each child has their own. All their workbooks and papers and reading books and favorite pencils and such fit in their box. And when the day is done, they neatly stack in the kitchen and the clutter beast is under control!

Submitted By: Amanda D.
Visit her favorite site at: www.ebay.com

The Hundred Penny Box

Empress — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:30:06 +0000

After reading the “The Hundred Penny Box” by Sharon Bell Marthis, we decided to make our own timelines with pennies. It was great fun to find a penny for each of our own years of life and then we took an index card and wrote down four different events that happened that year.

Two events were personal, such as learning to ride a bike or getting a pet. The second pair were about world events and we wrote those down, too. Even Mom and Dad joined in and we all started penny boxes of our lives!

Submitted By: Jennifer C.
Visit her favorite site at: www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org

Write Poetry with your Kids

Empress — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:28:46 +0000

To encourage my young daughter to write poetry, I decided to start by example. I wrote her a poem and then asked for one back. My poetry writing is a little rusty, but it was delightful to see her light up to the idea of swapping beautiful prose with her old man! We’ve been exchanging poems now all week and we’re both getting much better. She has been reading more poetry to get ideas and we have been discusing each other’s work as well! Sometimes you need to teach by example instead of just assigning work for your kids!

Submitted By: Dave R.
Visit his blog at: www.journalinglife.com

Planning Swap Time

Empress — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:27:21 +0000

I love to plan out a month of lesson plans or our quarterly unit studies but finding a block of time is often difficult. What I’ve discovered that works great is to “time swap” with another homeschool mom. I can take my time at home where I can assess my resources and use my computer or I can use the quiet and resources of the library. The other mom takes my children for a few hours and then I trade and take here so she can use her time alone to prepare her homeschooling plans. It’s is important to schedule Teacher Planning Days periodically throughout the year! It really helps!

Submitted By: Cheryl P.
Visit her favorte site at: www.home-school.com