I figured it would be a good idea to take a few minutes to talk about how I actually teach my children. I am working with a 5 year old who swears she’s the parent and a 4 year old who is the sweetest evil little child I have ever met. Our house is a bit chaotic at times and that’s ok because it works pretty well for us usually. For the most part we attempt to do at least a reading lesson and math of some form.
Aside from these basic subjects we tend to be extremely lax about other subjects. Watching a video on math or even checking out one of the popular mechanics for kids videos that we have on a wide variety of subjects. Trying to decide exactly which subjects that were most important to us was really easy. I feel that reading and math are subjects that absolutely should be taught heavily. Upon these skills it is possible to dive deeper into reading, advanced sciences and any other subject that is desired.
We tend to run a very lax day, and often we will find ourselves doing reading lessons at strange hours of the day. Trying to decide what works best for our family is likely to still undergo some drastic changes especially as we are starting the testing necessary to help our younget daughter focus better on her studies but this will give you a glimpse into one of the many ways that you can homeschool your children.
Tags: curriculum, unusual learning
Remember previously we discuss unit studies and how they can be useful. Keeping this in mind many families use unit studies as the best way to teach children of multiple ages. Here are some suggestions of popular unit studies.
*Animals anything such as cats, dogs, fish or even reptiles are perfect.
*Places this could be anything from somewhere locally to someplace internationally.
*A book makes a great place to start this could be anything from Dr. Seuss to Edgar Allen Poe.
As you can see there are plenty of choices to choose from. Let your imagination take over and enjoy creating the perfect unit study for your family.
Tags: curriculum, unusual learning
Pizza Hut’s ever-growing popular book it program has recently started up many parents wonder if it is suitable to bribe children to read with pizza. For those parents who choose this program is a great way to encourage kids who love pizza. of course not all lessons should have bribe but what is really the harm in a bit of free pizza?
To sign up it is really simple you go to Pizza Hut’s Book-It website and submit your information. Homeschool families are readily accepted and the process is really simple. I just received my certificates the other day for my kids and am looking forward to getting started.
You simply set reading goals for your kids, and the choice is your how to define the goals. Each month that the goal is accomplished you provide your child with a reward certificate that entitles them to a free pizza at your local store.
Quick and simple way to help encourage children to read that is a great free program.
Tags: curriculum, unusual learning, web resources
If you are trying to homeschool your child successfully you know that part of the battle is actually catching their attention. Despite the fact that many people are well aware of the benefits, most people have no clue just how difficult it is to encourage your child in a topic that they absolutely hate. Some of the main offenders in this area include spelling and mathematics. Most children when they encounter a subject that they hate will dig in and drag their feet. Breaking this pattern is important and how you approach the situation is critical.
Your first step should always be looking for games of any type. Whether it is a video game, board game, or other electronic game. Learning is alwasy much more fun as a game. Videos if carefully selected can be another great educational tool. Take some time to ensure that you do not just rush through the selection or you might find that the videos are too dry and boring. There are also some musical materials as well that can teach facts through songs.
Regardless of what you choose, it is important to look for ways to get your childs attention rather than continuing to struggle along fighting.
Tags: curriculum, unusual learning
Many households discover themselves in the position of teaching multiple children at home. Very rare is the homeschool family that has only a single child. This means many families look to unit studies as not only a great way to learn, but also self-defense against a monsterous stack of books that are never completed.
In order to really get the most benefit out of a set of unit studies you need to understand that these are specialized units of study that are based upon a topic. The topic can be anything you like. It could be a place, a thing or even a person.
Once you have selected your topic, you then work on finding activites that relate to the topic, while teaching all of the necessary skills such as spelling, writing, reading, mathematics, science and history.
While many people are unsure how to make this work, there are some great resources that are available online if you are interested in getting started but have no idea how. In further posts I will dive deeper into how you can create your own unit studies and how to make them work for your personal needs and the ages of your children.
Tags: curriculum, getting started, unusual learning, web resources
As human beings we all know that we have a breaking point. The place where we all stand and just start screaming because we are losing our calm. This occurs with children as well, but instead of always screaming they might start acting out and ignoring the material that you are trying to present to them. Such an experience occured here recently when my youngest (whom I highly suspect is ADHD) stopped paying attention at all to her reading lessons.
While she loves the book that we are using, she just cannot sit still. Each lesson would end with me putting my head to the pillow and screaming while everyone else in the house looked at me as if I was crazy, and she bounced away without remembering anything. After several days of this I stopped working on her reading. She was still permitted to “read” books on the couch, and such to help encourage her reading habits, but the actual lessons stopped.
Just the other day I decided to give it a try again, she had been driving me insane asking for another reading lesson. We gave it a try and it went along fabulously. In fact, it was one of the best reading experiences that I have ever had with her. Regardless of the reason, this was now the perfect situation to blog about.
When you find that you are hitting walls with your child and everyone is walking away from lessons unhappy it makes the perfect time to take a break. Look for different ways to still encourage learning during that time, but instead of the focused lessons look for a different approach temporarily. Then after a week or two, come back to the material and try again. You just might discover that the small break was the perfect opportunity to clear the air and start all over again positively.
Tags: complications, curriculum, unusual learning
We have all had days, weeks or even months where NOTHING seems to go right. Those times all find us wondering exactly what are we teaching our children. The reality is, most of us grew up believing that schooling and in turn actually learning required the usage of desks, a rigid schedule and a teacher with a chalk board. Missing any of those critical elements meant that someone was not getting a proper education.
As homeschooling parents we know well enough to realize that this is grossly inaccurate, but how do you really try to ensure that small problems in scheduling do not keep you from overlooking the critical aspects of your child’s education? For many parents tools of the trade are invaluable, they feel best with their chalkboard and other typical educational tools, but for others, it is important to ensure that there are additional options available.
To help ensure that when disaster strikes your child is still able to stay on target there are a few different ways to prepare ahead. You can look to laptops, Nintendo DS systems, and even some small books to make immediate portable schooling options. The degree of depth that can be covered this way will of course vary, but these are all tools that can be quickly gathered and taken if you end up taking an unexpected road trip.
What are you to do when you are still at home though, things have gone wrong and your schedule is out of wack? For the average family it is just a matter of survival. Get through as much material as you can, without losing your sanity. If your child misses math for a few days, they will survive. Come back and cover the lessons once things settle down again. There is no need to stress if you are not able to cover all of the material on the exact day that it is scheduled. Your child will still succeed, and the world will continue spinning along happily.
Tags: complications, technology, unusual learning
At some point you should start to realize that as a homeschooling family there really is no point in sticking to the traditional models of school. There are no permission slips to fill out, and just waking up and getting a cup of caffeine in some form is a good enough excuse for a field trip. Most people know that museums, aquariums and other interesting places make good field trip locations but there are plenty of other places as well.
Pick out a career that your child is interested in. If they love animals try to check out an animal hospital. This gives you a great way to show them exactly how science is really invovled in the job. Plus it can allow them to see what is going on outside in the real world.
The grocery store makes a fabulous place to visit. While you are getting grocery shopping done you can spend some time learning about responsible budgeting, price comparison and even identifying colors and numbers for small children.
The gym makes another great place. Learning about different parts of the body can allow you to have the perfect springboard for teaching how each part moves. This is great regardless of the age of your child and is a great way to reinforce the names of bones and muscle groups.
Tags: field trips, unusual learning