Fall Giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway I am excited to share some of my creations with you! My Fall math and literacy super bundle has a wide assortment of fall and Thanksgiving themed activities. Beginning sounds, roll a turkey game, big, bigger, and biggest activities, make your own clock, lacing cards and more. This bundle is truly lacked with fun and learning. How do you enter? It is easy! Choose a way to earn points and you are automatically entered! This giveaway ends Monday night (10/6) at midnight. Click on the images to see what you may win! Prize: Fall Math and Literacy Super Bundle and your choice of any of my products listed in my store! No, you do not “get me”, but you do get to chose one of any of my products at my store!
One Of Those Days As a Homeschooler, we can build unrealistic expectations about our kids and school.We are home, loving on our kids all day so they should be perfect students right? When you’re done laughing, I’ll continue… I have 5 boys. Been homeschoolin’ 15 years. I teach workshops, blog about homeschooling, and create learning packed for others to teach their kids. I never have bad days. My kids are perfect. Not.Today, was one of those days. We had just come out of a long weekend and on of the kids simply could not get his attitude together. Every single activity and lesson took hours rather than minutes.I am not proud of how frustrated I became.The entire was a total struggle. In the end, grumpy child overcame his attitude and completed his last lesson just as Daddy was walking in the door after work. It was a long day. We started at 8:30. Ended at 5:30. (Actually another child, our 11th grader is still working as I write this…) I have been sitting here reflecting on the day.Why was it so hard?What could I have done differently to assist grumpy child so that negativity would not have claimed his sweet heart all day long?Should I have called it a day early and then started over tomorrow? Truth is, I do not know. I am really cranking up the level of schoolwork the boys are completing this year.We have exciting ground to cover together. Since there are 3 kids doing the same lessons, I honestly cannot afford to skip a day just because someone does not feel like working. What about the kids who had a great attitude? They would be frustrated the next day while they wait for the other to catch up. All i know is that today, I needed to win the battle. Child does not want to work… Tough cookies.Work anyway.Harsh? I don’t think so. After 15 years, I have learned to pick my battles. I could clearly see that today’s bad attitude could not be rewarded with time off to play. While it was painful, making him press through until he was done was the right thing to do; hard, but right. So, I know I am not the only Homeschooler that has “hard days”.How do you handle days when your kids are off balance and grumpy, grumpy, grumpy? [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=1411c8346639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox]
Experince First: Marine Biology Experience First: Marine Biology is a post from Bekki @ A Better Way to Homeschool where we learn to train our children to become lifelong learners. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Bekki on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+! I am not excited about marine biology. The thought of teaching about bio-luminescence and phytoplankton simply do not cross my mind during the school year. So what if I have a Marine Biologist hiding inside one of my children? This is a prime example of experience first. You know, get up to your elbows in a subject first, then teach about it later… Our second son worked all spring and summer to pay his own way on a Tall Ship adventure. He was excited to learn to sail, kayak, and snorkel. He just returned this past weekend with a passion to learn all about marine biology. Why? He studied different phytoplankton under a microscope. He Observed an octopus in the ships aquarium. He snorkeled among our state fish (the garibaldi). Finally, he swam with baby seal lions. Actually, one jumped right onto his back while he was on his boogie board: How cool is that? Should it surprise me that he now wants to study marine biology? Of course not! He was able to experience the wonder of the ocean before I ever had him prepare a 5 paragraph essay on the wide varieties of ocean creatures. Take your children out into this amazing world. Let them get wet, muddy, and wonderfully dirty. Explore until you find what makes their heart skip a beat, then dive into the books to learn more. You will be thrilled with the “education” you are delivering to your children.
Customizing Homeschool I love creating personalized plans and activities for my kids. Actually, it is not only a passion of mine, but almost an obsession. I remember being about 6 or 7 years old and creating learning packets for my younger sisters. Fast forward almost 40 years and I am still making packets. And I LOVE every single minute of it! Every month or so, I give my readers here free copies of some of the activity packs that I have created. I am preparing a free bundle of goodies this week, so NOW is the perfect time subscribe. There will be something for kids of all ages in this “insiders gift set”. I want to invite you to join in the fun! It only takes a minute… Subscribe to this blog! Subscribe here! I have special tips and freebies for my readers!!! I will not spam you. You will simply get an email whenever I have a few minutes to share valuable homeschooling tips and encouragement. Visit my Store(click here) and Follow me (you will find the “follow me” right under my name at the top of the page. Why? I make new learning packets all the time. You will find something that helps you teach your children here! (if you have an idea of what you need, but cannot find it, let me know. I may be able to make you a customized activity pack. Thank you for subscribing and following me! Be sure to email me if you have an idea that you would like to see turned into a cute learning activity pack!
Organizing, Scheduling, and Managing Multiple Grades By the second day of school I was ready to pull my hair out. I was running ragged between our four homeschoolers. Tutoring the 11th grader Teaching the 4th grader Guiding the 6th grader Mentoring, teaching, and coaching the 7th grader By 4:00 in the afternoon I was exhausted and I looked at the day and realized we did not get through half of what I had planned in my head. That was the problem. All four kids schedules were in my head. They had no clue what to do, so whenever I became distracted, so did they. Enter Wonderful Husband. He reminded me that when our oldest (now 21 and in college) was in 7th grade we helped him create a planner. Hubby encouraged me to do the same for the boys. The result? After a few hours of planning, I had all four boys’ school-work mapped out for a few weeks. I created personal calendars for each student and organzied binders for each student. Oh my goodness. What a difference! I stay about 2 weeks ahead of the boys in planning, so there are no, “What ARE we supposed to do today” moments. We are 4 weeks into school, and all of the boys, event he 4th grader get up and pull out their planners and get to work each day before breakfast. The Planner: Gives them control over their day. More often than not, the youngest is working before 7am so he can be done with school early. Answers the question, “I am done, what should I do next?” Brings me peace of mind! Yes, it takes me a chunk of time to out lessons in advance and to schedule their weeks. But it saves so much time during the school day. My next goal is to teach the boys how to plan out their own weeks, but that will take some serious mentoring! By the time they are in the 10th grade they need to be proficient in planning their own days. How about you? How do you help your days run more smoothly? Subscribe here! I have special tips and freebies for my readers!!!
Math Worksheets, and Activity Packs Ready to Go! I created some new activity packs for you and your kiddos! Click on the images and you will be brought right to my store. Fun packet to help celebrate your child’s birthday. Includes wearable button, table/desk sign, paparazzi game, and more. If you mix food into any subject, it just tastes better. Yes, even math! Here is a daily or weekly worksheet to help your child practice all those different forms of a number: standard form, expanded form, word form, etc. I have included worksheets to cover fall, thanksgiving, winter, valentines, and St.Patrick’s day. Want to watch a quick overview? Visit my YouTube channel