The time will come when you will want your child to research a particular topic and garner all the information she can in order to write a theme paper on it. This is where research lessons can really come in handy. Here, you will find all kinds of resources and lessons to help your child learn, firstly, just exactly how to go about researching a topic.
The topic you select for your child might be as easy and fun as horses and ponies, or as complicated as phentermine reviews. My daughter actually did research and wrote a paper on food, while my son did the same for race cars.
Select a topic your child is already interested in, but hasn't really studied yet. Use the research lessons and suggestions to begin with, then let your child use those new skills to research the topic.
Set a deadline. You don't want this to carry on for weeks or months, and if your child is keenly interested in the topic, it could very well consume all her time and thought.
Help her narrow down what's being researched so that not too many lengthy rabbit trails are followed.
Using these tips should help her produce as well-written paper that she can be proud of.
At some point in time, your child, whether boy or girl, will need Auto Repair lessons. It's a good idea to have these so that he can fix small problems and understand how a vehicle works, from the motor to the brake system, from the electrical system to the drive train.
With these free lessons, your child can begin to have a good idea how it all works and what is entailed when it comes time to repair or replace worn car parts. Having this knowledge can save hundreds of dollars spent at mechanics shops. There will be times when a real mechanic is needed, of course, but with the knowledge of good maintenance habits and minor repairs, those times could be almost eliminated entirely.
I gave you a link a couple of posts ago for the educational games Heifer International offers, But I really should have given you a link for Heifer's classroom resources, which are by educational level, which include grade level activities, lesson plans, videos, maps, and posters.
Heifer also offers you a way to order the kits for these for free. I am assuming homeschoolers may order these as well as traditional schools, since it doesn't say they can't.
You can also download and print certificates of completion either for the class or for individual students.
I encourage you all to include these resources in your current curriculum for your children. They can teach your children that worldwide and in this country as well, there are people in need require more than a bowl of gruel handed to them on occasion. They need real education so that they can make their own life more significant and spread that education to entire communities.
Those who have been reading my blogs for awhile have probably noticed the Heifer International ad at the top. I don't get paid for that, but it's an organization that is truly close to my heart.
A couple of years ago I was privileged to be able to visit their headquarters in Little Rock, AR. It was an amazing place to visit. The building itself was designed to make a very small environmental impact and uses the natural resources around it to the fullest extent. Having been built on a low-lying area, it's a natural wetland and they kept that aspect of it. The displays in the public building are awesome and children's groups can learn so much from them. Even their gift shop offers only organic and fair market items from around the world.
A few years before that I visited their farm about 40 miles from me where they teach sustainable agriculture. They give people the opportunity to study over a several weeks period just how organic farming works around the world and they learn true sustainable agriculture. These skills can be taken home and put to use, or the people can go to areas of the world where these teachings are needed and show indigenous peoples how to better their lives through these methods. The only requirement for those people is to pass the teachings and part of the products of their farms to others so that it can continue through the whole community.
Your children may benefit from the games and puzzles at the Heifer site, learning how important it is to give in a sustainable way instead of just giving temporary handouts that don't last. Check it out for yourself, and while you're there browse the site for ways you can help this very worthwhile project.
For those who think they have to pay an arm and a leg for an online, homeschool education for their children, Connections Academy is available for free. This is a fully accredited online school with state certified teachers, solid curriculum, and up to date technology.
Using an online school such as this may be just the thing for parents who don't feel comfortable writing their own lesson plans and gathering materials for the school curriculum.
Created to cover courses in most states from the post-diaper stage to the acne treatment stage (K-12), you will find everything you need for educating all your children. Keep in mind that this is a public school online education, which may or may not be suitable for those with strong religious views.
Time is running out to take those delicious day trips that help make homeschooling interesting and give the lessons real dimension. Winter will soon be upon us. For many, this means more days spent inside.
For those of us who live in the southern United States, we still have a lot of nice days to be out and about even in the winter time. This means that plenty of fresh air and exercise are still possible. We don't have to sit inside, wondering if we'll need the best weight loss pill in order to work off the pounds we may acquire during the winter months.
Even for those who live in colder regions, getting outdoors isn't impossible. It requires only that we bundle up a little more and use some sense in the frigid air.
Getting outside during the winter can open up all kinds of learning possibilities. There may be different birds to identify then. There are weather conditions that can be studied. Even plants, though some may be dormant, afford learning opportunities.
Use your imagination to see what kind of hands-on learning you can come up with for the winter.
Games can be serious learning tools when used in the right context. Games can be fun, too, so that a homeschooled child doesn't always feel as if he is having to learn by rote or is being tested continually.
One prime site that gives you games, points you to very affordable curriculum and software, and lets you know what your child should be learning at various levels is Redwood Games. Having used this site when we homeschooled, I already know it's one of the best out there. This and other quality sites give you a chance to really get some good use from your classroom furniture. You can keep your children's notebook studies, folder games, and other learning tools close at hand while you build your own curriculum or use what they have that's free to be the skeleton of your purchased curriculum.
Every time I check in at Ed Helper I find more useful stuff that homeschoolers can use. From early elementary reading, writing, and math to high school level test prep, this site seems to have it all. There are games, daily activities, themed units, puzzles, and so much more!
Yes, it's another site I used when we homeschooled, which is why I feel comfortable sharing it with you. I want your homeschool experience to be the best possible, and it can be even if you can't spend hundreds of dollars on curriculum and teaching tools.
It's that time of year again. The time of year when homeschool families are looking for curriculum that's either free or very low cost either to supplement the curriculum they have chosen or to act as the full curriculum for subjects and unit studies.
It's also the time of year when I start scouring the web, looking for the valuable resources that you can use. I'll group them by subject or unit to make them easier to access.
The next few posts will contain links to great sites that I've either used in the past myself or that come highly recommended by other homeschoolers.
I think we sometimes forget that it's ok to get back to basics when educating our children. Teaching them multiplication tables, spelling and grammar rules, and basic science give them foundations for exploration of the world around them.
Beginning with the early years and continuing through the high school acne years, basic information is vital if your child is going to be able to actually learn the more complex issues that she will face in her educational experience. Skipping the basics is like trying to build a house from the roof down, instead of from the foundation up, and trying to do so without tools!
Start with simple arithmetic and simple science. Have your young child learn how to add and subtract, then multiply and divide. Have your child learn things like living/non-living, the five senses, and plant reproduction. Teach them basic health and hygiene. Give your child the real tools she needs and help her to apply them in real life situations.
When we first began homeschooling, we were pretty much broke. That meant that I had to find all the resources I could for free or at a very low cost. I scoured places like the library book sales, yard sales, and flea markets for everything I could think of that would help us in our homeschool.
One thing that I bought, dirt cheap, was an old World Book encyclopedia set. It was great, even though it was probably 30 years out of date. See, at the end of the larger articles are questions to be answered about the article. Those questions often served me as a guideline for lesson plans and even for short quizzes. The questions were also often thought-provoking, which led to some great discussions. Some things never change, no matter how old the information may be, so don't discount old resources!
Along with that ancient resource, I also sent for a "kit" that had some activity books and a typical course of study or what your nth grader should be learning each year. The kit also had a brochure that gave you levels of childhood development and what kinds of things children are capable of at different ages.
I wasn't on the internet in those early days, but I was able to borrow internet from my grown daughter, who gladly looked things up for me online and printed things out for me. The World Book website is one place I started with, and you might also find it interesting to peruse.
Sunday is my youngest granddaughter's birthday and it will be celebrated with a cookout. However, I have to work so I'll miss it. I was really hoping to see everyone either today, for a July 4th cookout, or Sunday for the birthday "gala", but my job has me scheduled to be at work both days. I have to pay bills so I have to be at work. Besides, I'm the general manager now and it wouldn't be right to skip out!
I will be shopping for baby gifts, though, since granddaughter is only turning 2. She loves Dora the Explorer stuff so I think I'll go that direction. Being an inveterate homeschooler, I'll be looking for something that's both fun and educational, of course. I always think that a child needs to be learning while playing, and so far it's worked out pretty well.
Play time isn't for mindless activity. For a young child, play time is really a learning time. They get to learn and practice skills they'll use later. It's why children will gravitate toward games of "let's pretend" and use old pots and pans to whip up imaginary meals. They have fun with dolls that teach them to button, zip, snap, and tie. Letter and number refrigerator magnets introduce them to reading and math at an early age. Dot-to-dot coloring books help them learn number order.
When you're new to homeschooling, you often start out thinking you have to have a classroom setup, complete with student desks and office furniture for the teacher. However, this is just mimicking the traditional classroom setting and doesn't always work for homeschool.
While I did have my own desk, where my PC resided along with all the papers, scissors, glue, and everything else I needed to create lesson plans and unit studies, my kids would do their school work in their bedrooms, at the kitchen table, on the living room floor, or even outside in a lawn chair. Where they were was less important to me than what they were doing. I never cared if they were lying across the floor pillows or sitting at a table, as long as they were learning.
For us, the "classroom" was more global. We had educational things to do in the car while on trips, even if it was just a trip to the grocery store. Where ever we went, I snagged every opportunity to be teaching my children.
I think probably everyone has coins that we find interesting or unusual. Like the other day at work, one of the crew members was given a Euro that looks like a small-sized penny. I'm not even sure what the monetary denomination was, but since it was given for a penny, I told her she could just keep it.
And who didn't get a quarter map and collect the US states' quarters when they were issued? Many families used that as a springboard for state history discussions and geography lessons. This probably also sparked an interest in children for numismatics, or coin collecting.
Eventually, that interest could grow into "real" coin collecting where the young person would be interested in having certified coins to examine and to own. As much fun as it is to have odd or unique coins, investing in truly rare coins ought to be done with the help of experts who can steer you away from worthless or face-value-only coins and toward coins that have more of an investment value.
Every so often, I like to go back through some of my older posts and re-present them to you for your consideration. I hope you will be able to make good use of some of these.
You know the Proverb - Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. What does that Proverb mean to you?
To me, it means providing training at home according to the child's natural, God-given talents and gifts. Everyone has a gift or a talent. Some children are gifted at music, so training that child in carpentry wouldn't be a good fit. But supplying the necessary training in music would be "the way he should go". See, it doesn't say "the way Mom/Dad thinks he should go". God has a plan for your child and has hard-wired him or her to fulfill that plan. Whether your child should be an English teacher, a doctor, or a futures broker, those talents will come out eventually and your child's dreams will fit with God's plans for him when his training is directed that way.
This very basic concept is made easier to teach by using the telling time interactive page at MySchoolhouse.com. This page gives your student a chance to practice skills learned and independently learn whether they are correct or not. It will let them type in the time indicated on the clocks and submit it for correction.
Whether you use an analog clock in your home or an IWC watch on your arm, your child will need to know how to tell time by hours and minutes. He will also need to learn the function of the second hand on the clock, how to manage reading time in one minute increments, five minute increments, fifteen minute increments, thirty minute increments, and hours. It would be helpful to him to understand that a 12 hour clock still represents 24 hours a day by passing over the numbers twice.
He should learn to add, multiply, and subtract time in seconds, minutes, and hours using a base of 60 for the minutes and seconds, and 12 or 24 for the hours.
For example, you are leaving to go to town at 4:45. The time is now 1:30. How long until you leave?
Along with any curriculum you may be using, you should include current events so that your children will stay abreast of breaking news items having to do with politics, the economy, foreign relations, technology, science, and weather events. All these things affect our everyday lives in some way, even if the impact doesn't seem immediate.
I read FOX news online daily as well as CNN.com. Between the two, I find interesting and timely stories. Keeping up with the news makes the curriculum come alive even more because the student can see how it relates to him and how it makes history right before his eyes.
When Elizabeth went to beauty school to be an Esthetologist, one of the things she learned was facial massage. She practiced on me, and I have to say, it REALLY feels good! I'm going to have to get her to give me another facial massage soon since I work hard and want to do something good for myself.
Even if you don't send your child to beauty school, or don't go yourself, you can learn a tremendous amount about it from the Facial Massage Therapy Video. To give you a little teaser, just watch this portion of it. I think you'll learn something and will want to learn more. While it didn't make me look 20 again, (after all, I am going to be 56 on my next birthday) the facial massage did improve my skin and give it a glow I hadn't seen in a very long time.
For most families, space is at a premium. This is especially true if you homeschool. You now have the added books, shelves, office furniture, and resource materials such as science tools or math tools to deal with. Getting the most good from the space you have to work with is very important.
Here are a few ways you can be a little better organized in your homeschool?
Books on shelves can be arranged according to topic, and alphabetically within the topics. I put small stickers on the front edge of the shelves, indicating the topic such as Math, Science, History, Resource, etc.
Yaffa blocks or milk crates can be used to hold the daily work. You put the work you expect to be done into the crate the night before. The child can then take the crate with her and get out what she needs, putting it back in the block when she's finished.
You don't have to be set up like a conventional classroom. The kitchen table or a coffee table in the living room work just fine for desk surfaces. If you have them, solidly built TV trays can be used as well. The advantage with the TV trays is that you can fold them up and stow them at the end of the school day.
A linen closet or dedicated space in a bedroom closet can hold things like microscope, telescope, musical instruments, math manipulatives, and other objects unsuitable for keepin on a shelf.
Posters gotten from various sites for free can be displayed when appropriate to the current topics. You can rotate them according to what's being studied or the time of the year. The US government offers a number of free posters as do many food companies.
Tell me how you have organized your homeschool space!
For all homeschoolers and others to browse through, learn from, and possibly acquire homeschool materials at bargain prices. Tossing in other great deals, bargains, and freebies, too!
