Making The School Year Easier On The Teacher
July 5, 2009 by Marybeth
As our thoughts turn to planning the school year, I thought I would list some things I have found through the years that make homeschooling easier on us as teacher moms. Some of them are very simple, and yet they make things run much more smoothly! I hope this list gets your ideas flowing.
A library basket: Several years ago I got a gift card to Pier One and used it to buy a large, pretty basket we now have sitting in our living room. I have trained the kids to store all library books in that basket when they are not being read. This helps a lot with misplaced library books, and also keeps things tidy when we bring stacks of books into the house! I also recommend getting familiar with your library’s online system so you can keep up with when your books are due.
Brita Pitcher (or some other form of water dispenser): My husband actually bought this recently, but I have found that the kids and I are all so much better about drinking the filtered, cold water from this pitcher than we ever were about drinking from the tap! Ideally, I would love to have one of those drinking fountains with the little cone-shaped cups for the kids to get their own water, but this pitcher does the trick just fine!
Grocery List: I bought a pad with a magnet on it at Michael’s for $1 and use it to list our grocery and other needs as I see them. This way it helps me to write things down as soon as I see we have run out of them. (Now if I could just get my husband and kids to do it!) When I get ready to go to WalMart or the grocery store, I just tear off my list and go. Of course, there always seems to be something left off the list, but I do feel more organized with the list than without it.
Electric Pencil Sharpener: I just bought this after years of wanting one. This was my big school supply splurge for the year! The kids have had a blast sharpening pencils with it, and it helps eliminate those pesky shavings that never seemed to make it into the trash. I bought a large stock of #2 pencils and they are all neatly arranged in a pencil box waiting to be sharpened and used throughout the year.
Mechanical Pencils: This falls into the above category, and is what my kids enjoyed using last year. These pencils are nice because they don’t need to be sharpened. I have found that my older kids would rather have these to write with. Find them on sale at rock bottom prices now!
Assignment Books: I started this practice years ago so that my kids could be more responsible for their work each day. Every day I use my teacher plan book to list out what they need to do for that day. I include chores, household duties, personal grooming, and outside activities in addition to academics. They love having what is expected of them spelled out, and I love putting the accountability back on them. I use a 5×7 notebook with a vinyl cover as that is more likely to last the whole year without wearing out.
A Written Schedule: I fought against this for years, as I wanted to be more “unschool-ish” and not have a schedule, but I have found that having a specific time to get up, shower, do chores, complete activities, have rest time, etc. really helps us all to flow through our days better. I have scheduled our read aloud times this year, for instance, just to make sure they have a time appointed, which will hold me accountable. I also have scheduled computer time for myself, to keep me from squandering time that should be spent with the kids! I think that the “Managers of Their Homes” book is great for learning more about scheduling, though my schedule is nowhere near as regimented as they recommend! My schedule is really just a “routine,” but it works for us!
Wipes: Last but not least, I have to put in a vote for how easy wipes are when assigning chores. Whether it is cleaning a bathroom, dusting, or cleaning windows, I can hand my kids of all ages a wipe for the job and send them off to do whatever it is! Even my little ones want a wipe to pitch in and do their part. Instead of having to oversee spray bottles and cloths, the wipes are convenient and disposable. Granted, they are more expensive, but they’re still cheaper than hiring a maid!
Please share what you have found to make life easier by leaving a comment. I can’t wait to learn from you guys!
Marybeth Whalen is homeschooling mom to six children ranging in age from teen to toddler, as well as a speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries. In her writings, she addresses things like burnout, dealing with interruptions, and handling homeschooling from a very practical perspective. Be sure to visit her blog, Cheaper by the Half Dozen.
Showing a Reluctant Writer the Power of Words
July 3, 2009 by Chris
Proof that God has a sense of humor: I have a child who at age 10 thinks computational fluid dynamics is a cool concept. This same child can fall into a complete meltdown when asked to write a paragraph. Since I am learning to choose my battles carefully, teaching my reluctant writer has necessitated some, ahem, creative encouragement.
Try these tips to free your child’s inner Shakespeare:
- Let your child start a blog. Free sites such as Blogger and Wordpress make blogging easy. Settings can be made private, so you control who has access to your child’s work. Blogging gives children an informal medium for written work and comments from friends and family provide instant encouragement.
- At the end of the year, publish your child’s blog in book form. The book can be as simple as pages printed at home and placed in a binder. Publishing sites such as Blurb, make it easy to print books at low cost, especially if you only include text entries.
- Write essays for fun and profit – or at least as contest entries. My son can get motivated to write a 200 word descriptive essay in no time at all when he is entering to win a Lego gift certificate. He has yet to win, but he isn’t deterred. Search online for contests that pique your child’s interest. Organizations and businesses from AAA to your local deli frequently sponsor contests with specific criteria for essays. (Prompted writing? Nah, let’s not call it that.)
- Let the words support the pictures. If your child is more motivated to draw than write, let him create a graphic novel. (We called them comic books when we were kids.)Your child may prefer to create his own or you can use blank versions found online at minimal cost.
- Challenge your child to keep a journal, describing something – anything – that happened the day before, but without specific requirements for the entry. Some experiences are best told in picture form, some require only a sentence or two and some may lead to a flow of words.
- Promote your child to author. Allow your child to choose a high-interest topic that lends itself to a good book. The youngest students may only have a sentence per page, with older children working up to chapter books. Work with your child to create a bound book, complete with dedication and an “about the author” page. Type (or have your child type) the manuscript and allow your child to illustrate each page or chapter. Bind the books simply at home with a scrapbook paper cover or paste the text and illustrations in a blank bound book.
Chris Worthy is mom to Caroline (15) and Nolan (10) and will soon celebrate 20 years of marriage to her favorite person, John. Chris practiced law before becoming a writer and stay-at-home mother more than 10 years ago. She enjoys cooking, crafting, spoiling dogs, green living and rummaging though old books. Follow along at www.chrisworthy.com
Learning Disabilities Stressing You Out?
July 2, 2009 by Angela
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
~ James 1:2-3
“Consider the following four dead-end kids. One was spanked by his teachers for bad grades and a poor attitude. He dropped out of school at 16. Another failed remedial English and came perilously close to flunking out of college. The third feared he’d never make it through school–and might not have without a tutor. The last finally learned to read in third grade, devouring Marvel comics, whose pictures provided clues to help him untangle the words. These four losers are, respectively, Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, John Chambers, and David Boies.” Found Here.
- Then check out Casdok’s Autistic Rap.
- Like comics and wish there were more about Autism? Check out Joey Comics. The cheery pictures are bound to grab a smile or two.
- You could even go check out this great story over at the Dyslexia Diaries about how the right teacher can change everything.
- How about a devotional? Are you homeschooling and ready to give up? Read “The Calling” by Stephanie Scarborough. My teachers say I’m addled . . . my father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided I must be a dunce.– Thomas Edison
- Still stressed? RELAX HERE
Angela DeRossett is military wife, homeschooling mother, and an advocate for autism research. Angela can be found blogging at Homeschooling the Chaotic Family and Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy.
Creative Homeschooling: Lapbooking/Notebooking
June 30, 2009 by Amy Bayliss
Our family has become quite accustomed to building our own books. We do a loose combination of all of the popular forms of booking: lapbooking, scrapbooking, notebooking, altered booking, etc. We have actually simply started calling it “heartbooking©” since our style fits none of these exclusively and because we base the foundation of our education on God’s word which teaches us that we must examine the condition of our hearts. Studying history, science, and the especially the bible can give us the opportunity to examine our hearts and motives in certain situations.
Recently while studying about the Vietnam war my son became appalled by the fact that some soldiers were spat at upon their return from overseas. This gave me the opportunity to dig deeper into their hearts and question them as to whether or not if they were in a situation with one of their neighborhood friends and they believed that friend had done something wrong, how would they react to them? That is what heartbooking© is about; using our current studies to build Godly character through self examination.
One of our favorite heartbooking © techniques is done by altering old books. We find old hardback books at thrift stores or library sales and we take them home and refurbish them with new content from whatever we are studying. We build new content on the already existing pages by simply gluing cardstock down and then adding all of our elements. We have absolutely enjoyed adding elements of a personal nature when we can. For example, when we studied the Vietnam war we were able to use some of my grandfather’s photos, paraphernalia, and documents that he had kept from the two tours he did there. We made lots of secret hiding places within the book to hold special things that belonged to my grandfather during the war.
We started the refurbishing with the cover of the book. We used sandpaper to buff off the smooth surface so that the glue would adhere properly. After that we kids filled in each page after a weeks worth of studying we were also careful to chronicle our heart lessons into the documentation. This has served us well and given our boys an amazing piece of history that is very close to their heart!
You can find basic instructions for altering books here: Amy Bayliss’ post and here: Amy Stults’ post.
Here are some photos of our Vietnam War book:
What kinds of creative ideas does your family use when it comes to “booking” of all types? Be sure to leave links to your “booking” posts so we can check them out!
Married to her best friend and “main squeeze”, Amy Bayliss is a 4th year home/co-schooling mom to three boys. She enjoys writing about the eclectic teachings that bring a glimmer of curiosity to the eyes of her sons. In addition to being the co-owner of Heart of the Matter, she writes for Internet Cafe Devotions. Be sure to visit her blog, AmyBayliss.com and her family’s homeschool blog: Integrity Academy.
Creative Homeschooling: Math
June 26, 2009 by AmyS
Counting Money
If your husband often comes home from work with spare change in his pocket, use this as an opportunity to teach your child to count money. If they can correctly count the change, they can put it in their piggy bank. Once they master counting the coins, alter the rules: they can have the change if they can correctly add the amount to what is already in their piggy bank. You can keep a tally on a piece of paper or white board.
Skip Counting
For most kids, skip counting by 2’s and 5’s is a cinch. But let’s face it, sometimes even us adults stumble on skip counting by numbers like 6 and 7. There are many CD’s available that teach skip counting to music, but here is a free and extremely giggly way to practice your skip counting while making your child feel appreciated and loved.
Me: I love you more than 6 cookies
Him: Well, I love you more than 12 PB&J’s
Me: I love you more than 18 pizzas
Him: I love you more than 24 ice cream cones
Me: Well, I love you more than 30 pieces of cheese!
Him: Wow, you really love me!! I love you more than 36 Magic Tree House books
Me: And I love you more than 42 bags of chips.
…and so on
Breaking the Code
Get rid of those boring math worksheets! This is an exciting way to practice those math problems.
- Use assigned number values for each letter of the alphabet (print sheet)
- Write your child a message or joke, using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division problems instead of letters. It is up to your child to complete the math problems in order to solve the message. Here is an example:
Question: What happens when you tell an egg a joke?
Answer: It cracks up
Math War
Teach your child to play the classic card game War. After a while, change the rules so that instead of one card, you must play 2 cards and add up the total to see whose amount is higher. For example: I lay down a 4 and 7 and my son lays down a 2 and 10. 12 beats 11 so he wins the hand!
More Math War
Play the game the regular way, with one card each, however this time the winner of the hand must recite the multiplication fact before they can truly win the hand. For example: I lay down a 4 and he lays down a 7. His card is higher but he cannot win the hand unless he can give the answer to 4×7.
Amy is a devoted wife to her husband of 11 years, a Classical homeschooling mom to a seven-year-old Superhero and the co-founder of Heart of the Matter and A Woman Inspired Ministries. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.
Delight Directed Learning
June 25, 2009 by Sallie
Today (the day that I am typing this) is the 15th of June. Due to time needed for editing, etcetera, our HOTM articles are due by the first of every month. Needless to say, I’m a bit late. I have been dwelling on what profound insight or encouragement I could share with you for weeks but, I’m sorry to say, I got nothing. We had a virus take over our computer about a month ago and it’s like an empty shell up there in the nether regions of my brain. All of my sensibility was lost with my old computer. On that computer, I was constantly typing out small tidbits and notes on my desktop, or in the file my husband had lovingly titled “Sallie’s junk pile”. That meant I always had a story “starter” to “finish” when I need to do an article for any of the websites I write for. I literally had hundreds of text files on it and I could just go in and grab any of them and finish them up lickety-split. Now, I feel like my brain has been turned off without those backup notes.
It’s not that there isn’t anything left in my brain to write about. Heaven’s NO!! I am a homeschooling mom, afterall, and my children give me fodder, er, uhm, brilliant specks of literary genius to write about all the time. I think the issue that has become so daunting for me is simply that I have to start something from SQUARE ONE because I don’t have my arsenal of daily tidbits of our lives built up yet on this new computer. Yikes!! Can anyone say panic attack?!
As I sit here typing, I realize homeschooling can leave you with those same daunting feelings… those “I got nothing” feelings… even for veteran homeschoolers. A move to a new house; a new family member born/adopted mid-week of your mid-term; a transition from kindergarten to elementary, or middle to high school, or any other grade level in between; a new job for mom or dad (or both in today’s economy); a new set of curriculum. All those things, and more, can throw off your groove and leave you feeling like you are flying blind. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Homeschool does not have to be the same thing as ordinary school aka public school. That is why it is extra-ordinary! That is why I love it!!
Recently I discovered the name of the homeschool approach for what I have been doing for years. I knew we weren’t Classical. I knew we weren’t Charlotte Mason. I knew we weren’t unschooling. Though, perhaps we do have a bit of each of those in our routine. We just aren’t full blown regulars to any of those learning approaches. I have always simply called our homeschooling approach Sallie’s Way and that sounded just fine by me. In all actuality, though, it does have a more specific name: Delight Directed Learning. I’m very thankful that this method of homeschooling does not leave me with feelings of being lost and flying blind. The main reason for this is because the schooling is nothing about me and how great a teacher I am, but is instead about my individual children and their interests and desires.
Our oldest son, Caleb, is nearly 15 years old, and is on the autism spectrum. He was diagnosed later than most at age nine. One of the doctors that Caleb saw early on in his diagnosis told us that homeschooling would be our best option for Caleb, and that teaching him towards his interests was the best way to prepare him for a job in the real world. We decided that made pretty good sense to us and if we were teaching him towards his interests, then it would make complete sense to teach ALL of our children towards their individual interests. Guess what?! It WORKS!!
Delight Directed Learning is NOT letting your children do whatever they please. However, it is letting your children learn through what pleases them. My children have attended DOD (Department of Defense) schools, charter schools, and public schools throughout their educational careers, before we moved over completely to the homeschool way of life. Public schools, as well as most of the other school venues we were involved in, want cookie cutter children. They start work as early as possible to strip children of their individual personalities.
God did not create a cookie cutter society but instead gave each of us gifts and talents to be used according to His call on our lives.
Exodus 28 speaks of workmen whom God gave specific talents for creating the priestly garments for Aaron. Exodus 35 speaks of the men gifted with skills for building the tabernacle. We read in verses 30 and through the end of the chapter that God even specifically called the men out by name so that there was no confusion as to whom he had given certain talents to:
30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them master craftsmen and designers.
In the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 12 gives a list of spiritual gifts and services. Verses 4-6 tells us that even though there are different gifts, and services, and workings, there is only one God who works them all in man. The chapter further tells us that we are to use our individual God-given talents and abilities to work as a unified body in Christ. In His great understanding of the human mind (He DID create it afterall), God knew that he was creating us to be different from each other and that there was a job and place for each of us in His Kingdom.
I use several translations of the Bible at home when I am doing studies and such, but I would have to say that probably my most favorite translation is the Amplified version. I truly love how indepth the translation strives to be. The Amplified gives a bit more meaning to the original translation of Proverbs 22:6 when it says:
6Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.
And in keeping with his individual gift or bent. WOW! Do we strive in our day to day homeschool routine to teach our children based on our wants and desires (or individual gifts) or do we strive to teach them what God has gifted them to do? Teaching my children based on their own individual gifts from God has opened my eyes to one of the true blessings of homeschooling.
No longer do I worry if my children are where they are supposed to be educationally compared to other children. No longer do I worry whether or not they are competitive enough in the sports world. No longer do I worry if their music lessons are progressing as well as I think they should be.
Instead, I ask myself daily two questions: 1)”Are my children learning and excelling in the talent God gave them?”, and 2) “Are we giving God the glory for His work in our lives and thanking Him for it?” ( per Colossians 3:17)
As long as I can continue to answer YES to both of those questions, then I know we are on the right track for growing our children up to be the adults that God would have them be. Are you on the right track, too?
Sallie is an off-again, on-again homeschooling mom to her 4 children, ranging from elementary to high school. In her writings, she discusses the challenges of homeschooling a child with disabilities and offers insight to those who sometimes feel all alone in a round hole world. Please visit her at Seaside Tales
Creative Homeschooling - Week One
June 23, 2009 by Amy Bayliss
“Awe mom… do we have to do this again?”
Heads up: education can get boring if you don’t get a little creative with it. We would do our selves a favor and serve our children well by making it fun and enticing. I could quote you all kinds of statistics and give you links to a thesis or two based entirely on what works best for children but instead I’m just going to recommend that you ask your kiddo if learning might be more tolerable if it were fun.
What do you think they will say?
Yes? Hmmm, that’s exactly what I thought.
My kiddos feel the same way and so I began searching for ways to get creative with our lesson plans. Over the last school year I discovered many different things that brought me mommy praise and I figured I’d share them with you but there is a catch: I want you to share some ideas with me. Deal?
So here is what we are going to do:
Every Tuesday over the next eight weeks we will post on a different subject that engages our children and breaks the monotony of average lessons. I will post my ideas on each subject and then you will either post on your blog some creative ideas that go along with the subject that week and link to it in the comments or you can just post the ideas in the comments. Your choice. I’ve broken it down as follows:
- June 23: Basic Creative Ideas
- June 30: Lapbooking/Notebooking
- July 7: Mini-offices
- July 14: Learning Centers
- July 21: Workboxes
- July 28: Unit Studies
- August 4: Games
- August 11: Recycled & Repurposed
Ready? Let’s go!
Theme Days
My basic ideas for adding some spunk to the everyday are really just “fun” in nature. Something to make the kids proactive and use their imagination. We like to have a theme day once a week. The theme might be the White House or backwards day. On theme days they get points for every time they do something that focuses on the theme. For example, if they dress backwards, start from the bottom of a worksheet and go up, or eat desert first (I know, bad mom 
then they get a point. For each point they earn that is one less math problem they have to do. We use Teaching Textbooks and Saxon so doing away with 15 problems over the next week isn’t a big deal to me but it is to them!
Animated Reading
Another fun activity they like to do is what I call animated reading. They have to read to me while acting out the scene. It’s kind of like charades on steroids. As you can imagine it gets really interesting during certain chapters of great books like Island of the Blue Dolphins and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Once we were doing animated reading and the phone rang so I answered in the middle of a very animated Magic Schoolbus rendition of digging up dinosaur bones. My grandmother became quite excited when she thought we had found real dinosaur bones in the back yard. After I explained she said, “Oh, so they don’t call you Ms. Frizzle then either?” Uh, no grandma they don’t!
Snuggle Days
On some winter days I call for a snuggle day. Snuggle days consist of lounging around in our pjs with hot cocoa and warm blankets. We read to each other and watch subject related movies from Netflix. Then we tell campfire stories. So what if our campfire is really a candle?
Role Reversal Days
Our favorite creative idea is role reversal day. They get to teach me what they’ve learned over the last month or so and I sit intently and listen. They think that this is so fun because they are pretending to be the teacher but what they don’t know is that it is really just another way to test what they have learned. I also love saying things like, “Awe, mom! Do we have to do this again?” Then watch as their little wheels spin to come up with fun ways to teach me!
So what are some of your ideas?
Married to her best friend and “main squeeze”, Amy Bayliss is a 4th year home/co-schooling mom to three boys. She enjoys writing about the eclectic teachings that bring a glimmer of curiosity to the eyes of her sons. In addition to being the co-owner of Heart of the Matter, she writes for Internet Cafe Devotions. Be sure to visit her blog, AmyBayliss.com and her family’s homeschool blog: Integrity Academy.
Summer school isn’t so bad
June 8, 2009 by Marsha
School is out for summer! At least it is for the local schools and the majority of my homeschooling friends. Yours truly, however, will be plugging along throughout the upcoming hot, sweaty months! Can I get a hurrah?
*chirp chirp*
I didn’t think so.
If all goes according to schedule, we will finish up our “year” just in time for our annual off-season family vacation at the end of September. Yup, you read that correctly– September!
One of the many benefits of homeschooling is being able to choose the type of schedule that works best for your family. Many follow the traditional September through May calendar. Others have school all year long with a one week break thrown in every 6 weeks– and perhaps even the entire month of December off. Since I am about as trendy as my husband’s work schedule is predictable (he works for the airlines and only knows his schedule a month at a time), we school every day that we can and take breaks whenever something fun (or necessary) presents itself.
The downside to my kind of scheduling (ahem, besides the whole finishing in September thing!) is that it is very easy to always feel behind. I am positive that many of you can relate to this feeling, no matter what type of schedule you use. But why do we feel like that when we have made the requisite calendars and charted our goals appropriately? While I can’t answer for everyone else, I can speak for myself when I say that my problem lies with pride and comparison.
It kind of hurts the old pride when we school year-round on purpose, but others may view us as just being lazy and not getting it done. Y’know, like people who claim to homeschool but they aren’t really teaching their children anything. After all, if we were schooling instead of playing video games and eating ice cream all day, we wouldn’t still be in school when it’s already June (or July or August), would we? I also get myself in trouble when I look at how little Johnny is in 2nd grade and already doing quadruple digit division… whereas my 2nd grader is just learning his times tables. Maybe I am failing my kids? Ugh, we are so behind! Maybe if we have school 6 days a week and then add night school to 3 of those days– then we will be where we should be?!
All of these crazy thoughts are simply distractions and discouragement from staying the course and not enjoying this journey of homeschooling. I can get over the ridiculous comparisons and be confident in our schedule because of several things:
-I’ve prayed about it.
-I have a plan and goals that were already decided upon (ahem, last September).
-My husband and I are in agreement.
-We remain diligent, even in the face of discouragement and temptation (like being invited for the third time in a week to go to the lake or beach– it’s all about balance!).
So for all of you year-round homeschoolers out there, stay the course and do not be discouraged! Don’t fall into the trap of comparison and don’t let your pride be wounded because other people don’t understand why your family keeps a different schedule.
And for those of you that keep a traditional schedule, don’t forget that even though we are still hitting the books, you can still invite us to do fun things with you (oh please, oh please, oh please!). One of the biggest perks of going year round is that we can take advantage of opportunities to spend time and do things with our friends. And when it’s the end of September and you are already a couple weeks into your new school year, don’t be hatin’ me just because I’m lounging on an uncrowded beach somewhere. I’m just sayin’… count yourself invited!
Marsha is proud to be the Mrs. to David for over 12 years. They have been homeschooling their rowdy boys in the Lone Star State for the past 5 years. When she’s feeling like a slacker, you can find her drinking coffee, reading a book and writing at her blog — and sometimes all at the same time! You can find Marsha at Our Homeschool and Other Such Happenings.
Embracing My Inner School Teacher
June 5, 2009 by Anna
I have to admit we have not been on good terms, my inner school teacher and me. I have poo-pooed her ideas and rolled my eyes at her suggestions. Her penchant for school supplies and compulsion to write on the chalkboard drove me to distraction. I wanted to change her altogether, reshaping her into more of a ”fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” individual, tossing every hint of traditional education out the window. She was having none of it.
Through much prayer and seeking I have come to realize something. It’s really okay the way God made me. (That may be a “duh” to you but I’m a little slow on the uptake.) God’s Principle of Individuality highlights the beauty of true diversity, and that includes the way I educate my children. God knew what temperaments my children would have, how they would learn best, and how that would work together with my teaching style to develop strong American Christians. And just because I may do a lot of things like a traditional teacher does not mean we operate just like a school. We enjoy our home education and celebrate our unique way of learning.
I need not put myself on the scale to see how I measure up to other home educators. There is a specific bent that God gave me, which happens to look very much like a school teacher. I enjoy detailed planning. Our pencil sharpener is one of those ones like I remember from school that is screwed into the wall and I love using it. School supplies make me giddy and I enjoy standing at the dry wipe board and pointing to the map from time to time.
There is nothing more liberating than realizing you are okay just as you are, “schooly” or not. To me, that’s the beauty of home education. I am done comparing my kids and my lessons and my teaching style.
I am off to get my inner school teacher a hot cocoa and a comfy chair–so she can get busy with those lesson plans.
Anna-Marie is a wife and a mother of four using the Biblical Principle Approach in her home education. She is a writer and book binder. It is her joy to teach her children and she plans to continue until the last little chick is out of the nest. She resides in Oklahoma. You can read more of her musings at Principled Mom and The Creative Homeschool.
Bookworms welcome here
June 5, 2009 by Chris
When it comes to books, one size (or genre) does not fit all
“How much do I have to read today?” the boys asks.
I never know exactly what to do with this child. He judges a book not by its cover, but by its font size and page count. Too long or too wordy and he won’t get past the introduction. Once wrangled into reading, the author needs to grab his attention quickly and keep the action coming at a steady pace – or else.
His sister can finish a “War and Peace”-sized novel in a weekend, barely coming out for food and drink. She has been known to walk into a bookstore, breathe deeply and say, “Ahh, the new book smell.” As I write this, she is completing an application to serve as a teen volunteer at our local library. I will live vicariously through her as she masters the Dewey Decimal System and directs little ones to new discoveries found via Amelia Bedelia and Nancy Drew. I suspect she will get sidetracked often as she learns to shelve returned books and will probably come home daily with more than she could read in ten lifetimes.
But the boy is a puzzle. I am constantly on the hunt for “high interest readers” to well, maintain his interest. He is a capable, strong reader – he just prefers to have his information delivered in a different format, preferably one that engages a variety of senses.
I always assumed my children would be voracious readers. They would get that from my genetic contribution, while avoiding my short stature, slow metabolism and allergies. That didn’t work out the way I hoped, but I am thankful they have their Dad’s physical attributes, kind heart and analytical thinking skills. (Sorry about the allergies, kids.)
Somewhere between telling my daughter to take a break from her book and tracking down the latest spy adventure novel for my son (and hoping he likes it), I try to fit in a few minutes of reading for myself. Maybe I can sneak off to the library. I hear they need volunteers.
Chris Worthy is mom to Caroline (15) and Nolan (10) and will soon celebrate 20 years of marriage to her favorite person, John. Chris practiced law before becoming a writer and stay-at-home mother more than 10 years ago. She enjoys cooking, crafting, spoiling dogs, green living and rummaging though old books. Follow along at www.chrisworthy.com
