Learning Through the Junior Ranger Program
Learning Through the Junior Ranger Program Recently, we visited the Carl Sandburg House, where author and poet Carl Sandburg lived with his family during the last 20 years of his life. When he passed away, his wife Lilian wanted to preserve his legacy; his home became part of a national park. Now when visitors tour the home, kids (of all ages) can also join
Choosing Homeschooling Curriculum: So Many Choices!
Choosing Homeschooling Curriculum Now that you know your child’s learning style and your teaching style, how do you find the best homeschooling curriculum? When we first began homeschooling, there were a number of curricula available, but not nearly as many as there are today. Some companies provide whole sets complete with language arts, handwriting, science, math, art, and foreign language. Others focus on particular
Your Teaching Style – Choosing Homeschooling Curriculum
While it’s important to consider your child’s learning style, it’s just as important to determine your own teaching style. What method suits you best as you educate your child at home? Do you like everything planned out ahead of time? Some curricula provide the exact words to say to your student as you go through the lesson. Does that kind of detail bring a
More Than Painting
More Than Painting Throughout the summer and sometimes during the school year, I teach painting classes at our local arts and crafts store. In the classes, I show students how to create a certain picture using acrylic paints on canvas. We go step by step; I paint each part of the picture, and they follow along. Even though we’re all painting the same thing,
Studying Snakes
Studying Snakes The other day, as my husband was heading out the door, he had an unusual surprise awaiting him. Right behind the car was a huge black snake. We didn’t take out a measuring tape, but I would estimate the snake was at least four to five feet long. Our dog began barking at it, and the snake curled up in a strike
Family Bonds
Homeschooling Can Be a Huge Challenge I’ll be the first to admit: homeschooling can be a huge challenge. Not only are some subjects hard to teach, but there are other struggles the homeschooling parent must work though: school-day interruptions, learning difficulties, and just plain bad attitudes. I’m sure I’ve told all of my kids at least three times that I wasn’t going to do
Doing Your Best
My oldest son is very good in math; in fact, he wants to major it in next year when he goes to college. My next child says she “hates math” – she does all right, but it’s a bit of a struggle getting through the lessons, and she has to work really hard at it. Of course, some kids will excel in some areas,
Math in the Summer
This week, we had the opportunity to visit with my niece and her children who are still fairly new on this homeschooling journey. She wasn’t sure what to do about math this summer for her oldest, a second-grader. The will soon complete schooling the required number of days, but it’s taken him a little longer to get through some of the math lessons. He won’t
Teaching Subjects You Don’t Know How to Teach
Teaching Subjects You Don’t Know How to Teach Sometimes when I meet others, and they find out we homeschool, they say, “I’m so impressed! I could never homeschool my children. “ It’s usually at that time that I confess that I often don’t feel like I’m very good at it, even after 13 years. That’s when eyebrows go up in surprise, and I know
What Does a Typical Homeschool Day Look Like?
Once in a long while, my husband will come home from work, look around at a messy house, and brave the question, “What did you do all day?” It’s at those times I shoot him a less-than-loving look and mumble something under my breath. Then I go into a lengthy explanation (much more than he wanted to know) of what our homeschool day was
