Hindsight: It is Worth Repeating If I could rewind the tape and begin homeschooling my kids today with the benefit of my 16 years of experience, what would I do differently? 1. I would spend the first 6-12 months to a year organizing my home, working on establishing a daily rhythm, and study my children. 2. I’d go to the library at least once a week allowing them to choose books that interest them, and hand picking random books for me to read aloud. I would be watching for what they are interested in, what makes them excited, what they find boring, etc. 3. I would rely on my husband more in creating a vision for our children, rather than trying to figure out what everyone else is doing. I wouldn’t waste a second trying to make what works for your kids work for mine. I’d keep my husband in the loop about our daily escapades and accept his advice more quickly. I mistakenly thought that because he worked outside the home all day he would be unable to see what the kids needed. This piece of humble pie would have been better to consume early in homeschooling. 4. Rather than spending countless hours worrying about this curriculum or that, I would begin with the family goals we have now: Put the highest priority on sharing our love for Jesus with our children. To insure the kids know their math facts inside and out. Period. Forget learning them, they need to over learn them. To inspire a love for literature by exposing the kids to a steady flow of great books. (I would read aloud daily no matter what their ages). I’d be picking the brains of the veteran homeschoolers, librarians, and authors that are in my sphere of influence for suggestions and I would prioritize a daily reading habit. I would focus all learning to develop excellent written and oral communication skills. I would find my children pen pals so they could perfect the friendly letter. I would have them do copy work from the masters and discuss why the sentences, paragraphs, essays, or stories are so great. I would understand that excellence in writing really comes from being well read and practice, tactics, practice. 5. I would find opportunities for my kids to stand and share in front of others, whether it is during a family BBQ or performing with the local theater- giving them the skill and confidence to speak in front of others. 6. I would view curriculum, tests, quizzes, and state tests as resources to help me customize each of the kids education, not the substance of their learning. 7. I would relax more. I’d let the kids get dirtier. I would get dirtier. We would play in the rain, build in the snow, chase rainbows, cloud watch, visit the farm, play at the beach, collect more leaves, examine more bugs, watch more plays, attend the theater, interview our doctors and dentists, locate inspirational guests like missionaries, mechanical engineers, artists, poets, and ace mechanics to share their passions with the kids. I would put a map of the US and the world under glass or plastic across my kitchen table and every single time we read or heard about a place we would locate it on the map and discuss how close/far it it from us. 8. I would hide the duct tape… 9. I would do it all over again. And again. And again. I know my children so much more intimately because of homeschooling. I am forever grateful for the vision my husband was given for our family. How about you? What are the top few things you would change if you could rewind the tape and homeschool those beginning years with the wisdom you have today?
Planning Your Homeschool Day Homeschool kids smell a day without a ‘purpose and plan’ like wild animals smell fear. Normally this is not an issue. I take the time to sit and think through what we are doing in our homeschool day about 4-6 weeks at a time. I have a personal calendar that I print off for each of the boys so they know that “mom has a plan for today, so I better get busy.” I am a little-stressed right now because my current calendar/plan is blank and school is supposed to start in 10 days. The fact that I am not ready for the next step is like a ticking time bomb. If I do not have a clear plan of attack for the day and week before school starts, my boys will eat me alive. They KNOW when I do not have a plan. The run, they hide, they break out the Legos right after breakfast and look up at me with dirty faces and bed-heads and are shocked and even aghast that we have learning to do. If I do not have a plan, they will forget how to get up, make their beds, add and subtract, multiply and divide, and write legibly. Sometimes I think it is a conspiracy. “Psst-Maybe if we pretend to forget how to do school mom will let us play all day and live in our pajamas.” Can you relate?If kids do not see that we are well prepared for our day, week, or topic they do not buy in to whatever learning experience we set before them. They see us grab our teacher’s manual and then say, “OK, let’s get going. We have a lot of school to do today.” They see us begin reading the lesson and make that certain face that says, “what am I supposed to do?”and slip out from under our radar. When we, the teachers, finally grasp the core of today’s lessons they have snuck away from the school area and are resentful that we try to lasso them back to school. If I am honest with myself, I would resent attending a class where the teacher wasn’t prepared. I took the time to come to school, surely she could have prepared in advance to teach me. Our kids are no different. They need to see that we have invested in their education by taking the time to become familiar and excited with the learning material before we declare it is time for school. Kids smell a day without a plan and begin wiggling to get out immediately. What can we do: Plan school for 2-6 weeks at a time. Become extremely familiar with the material before we try to present it to our kids. (remember the teacher from Ferris Beuller? Help us not be like him!) Schedule lessons out for 2-6 weeks in advance. Write them in pencil, so that when life happens you simply erase and begin again the next day. Never try to teach the school week without a plan. Even if you take a rabbit trail because your kids show a sudden interest in penguins, you will be much better prepared. As homeschoolers include a dinner plan/menu into your school day. Be excited about what you are learning together. How do I plan? I have 4-5 weeks of student calendars printed and ready to go, labeled with their names and dates. I teach 5 core subjects: Bible, Math, English, History, and Science I schedule math in first. It usually is just the next number lesson. I include activities like flashcards, videos, and games in my calendars. If I do not schedule flashcards, the kids do not do flash cards. Next, I schedule those easy tasks, like handwriting, phonics workbook pages, and spelling. These are similar to math in that they tend to simply be “the next page#’s”. In our home, we learn memory verses, so I fill in the verses the kids are working on that week. History is my core, my golden thread. I try to incorporate English and Science activities that go along with what we are learning in history. I have to skim the readings, pull vocabulary and scour for student activities that will work with my boys. This year I am using Story of the World and they have a great Activity Book from which I pull reading comprehension, map, art, and cooking activities. And then, of course, there is Pinterest. I have Homeschool boards for every subject and I scour for activities for my boys and pin them often. Science is my weakest subject as a teacher. I am not entirely sure why, but even superman had a weakness. Science is mine. This year I am trying to integrate our science with what we are learning about in history. For me, that means that I am looking for and creating learning activities for the boys. I plan English last. This year I am teaching from Shurley English and LOVE it. It is very well planned, so in all honesty, it is another, “just do the next lesson” curriculum. I glance through the lessons as I am planning and try to spot potential issues. For instance, my boys need two days for the writing assignments, sometimes two so I take that into account. Lastly, I double check my pencil calendars against the master calendar looking for conflicts. Are we home all of the days I planned to teach school? Are there any obvious monkey-wrench days (days that are destined to fail before they begin). I make adjustments whenever necessary. SacrificeWhile every homeschool family has different goals and ambitions, talents and abilities, we all sacrifice something to homeschool.My husband and I personally sacrifice time. Lots of time.It is not easy homeschooling a troop of boys of various ages, grades, interests and learning styles. After 15 years I have learned that the key to success is being prepared before the day begins. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets. Yes Please Thematic teaching is my secret secret sauce. Take any topic: bees, microbes, apples, money, pioneers, explorers, etc and think of ways to explore using lots of hands on materials. Your kids will not even know they are learning! Here’s a FUN Example
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Emotional Boys? What is a Mom To Do? Dear mom, You son is blessed to have you. You are hand picked by the Creator of the universe to guide and direct this future man of God. Ask the Lord for wisdom, because I can assure you that the Lord’s plans for your emotional son Is the same as yours. What works for my five boys when they hit emotional spurts (and they all do): Don’t coddle through the over emotion. Hug and love lots, but not through anything that resembles a meltdown. I turn off the TV and electronics. I continue to be amazed at how quickly technology sucks the boys of their ability to cope, be kind, or simple listen. Yes, they watch and play but it is limited and is the first thing to go when they are a teary mess. I get them around their daddy. Quickly. (Or another godly man). Strong men like my hubby simply do not put up with whiners. I have found that I can raise boys, but my husband mentors men. Put them to work. “Many hands make light work”. Boys need to work hard and feel needed. They also can tell when they really contribute to the group or are being pacified. We have given our boys chores from the time they could dump a bun of toys! (If you can dump it, you can be coached how to put it back:) Pray. This is so key. We are not men. We are emotional beings and love to dig in to the why behind emotional outbursts because that is what God wired us to do. The Lord has always spoken clarity to what each son has needed during his emotional state. **identify the heart issue. So far, my older boys have hit their biggest emotional state at around 12. Lord help me, I have another son almost 12. Confusion has been the catalyst for almost all emotional outbursts with my oldest three. They get confused about something, that pricks their pride because they should know they answer right. Then they lash out emotionally. Teaching boys to say something like, “hm, I don’t understand… Can you explain it again, or a different way?” Has been life changing! That’s my 2 cents. Dear Jesus, Help us moms of boys seek You for counsel, wisdom, and direction with each and every one of our boys. They are so unique and wonderful. You know exactly what they need. May we seek wisdom from each other, but only allow what is from You to stick and stay in our minds… Amen! You may also enjoy: My Son Almost Died Today. “Your 12 Year Old Son is becoming a man. See the Captain America within him!”
Bug of the Day Don’t let your boys find out you are scared of bugs, spiders, snakes, or other creepy crawly things. I have masked my fear behind curiosity. When the boys discover something that they think might frighten me, I take a picture and then we go research about that creature. I find this keeps me sane and they never gain the ability to use my kryptonite against me. This delightful little creature was discovered on my most recent walk with my 11-year-old. Isn’t he NOT cute? My research indicates that this guy is a Stink Bug and is a “watch out” species. Because of our milder winter and warmer weather this invading species may be a big problem. Apparently, they love the same berries that we are enjoying! How about you? What do you pretend to careless about to shield yourself from your boys? (Get it? Shield yourself?) [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=142a79846639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox] [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=143dc6846639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox]
What about the Tooth Fairy Forget the Tooth Fairy… I am the Ninja Fairy Who said kids should have all the fun? I have developed the persona of the Ninja Fairy in my home. I sneak into my boys’ room at night while they are sleeping to switch their lost teeth for cash, or decorate their rooms to celebrate their birthdays. It is so much fun that I am declaring war. I am surrounded by testosterone, so I have to pick my battles carefully. Challenge: “If you catch me in the act of secretly blessing you, I will double the blessing!” For those of you who want some tooth fairy resources, here is a cute site. Here are some free Ninja Fairy Notes to help you bless your kids!
Teaching Kids to Set Goals I highly recommend you begin teaching your kids to set goals from the time they can understand what a goal is all about. By the time kids graduate from high school they should be independent, self-governing, and disciplined. Don’t panic. Mine are not there yet either. Step One Setting Daily Goals. We have all of our boys write out a goal list each day. It is great. The idea is that they learn the art of thinking through their day and living their life purposefully. Here is an example of our 17 year old’s list from this morning. Notice the last item… … Read More »
Daily Funnies: Actual Item’s From Our Sons Daily To Do List I created a tab at the top so you can find these daily funnies easier! For Your Enjoyment. Our boys create to do lists daily. These items were taken directly from their lists without their consent or knowledge! Because: Parents Rule. Subscribe to this blog. Come back often. It will be worth your while. To Do: Physical Conditioning: Slay a Dragon to warm up and then Work out in Ho mine Father and Mother! How fair thee? A deep recollection hath cometh forth from mine own mind to record yet another daily list. To Do: Stuff little brother into the dead body of a tauntaun to protect him from further disease and sickness. (His brother has been sick with a stomach bug for three days.) To Do: Claim dominion over a clan of shoe-making elves. To Do: Hunt down Sasquatch and claim his pelt in the name of the Abominable Snowman ****************************************************************************** Help your kids organize their school day!
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Summer Mischief and Simple Pleasures: Water Activities for Bored Kids Due to unseasonally warm weather, the swimming area at our local lake closed. To say our boys were bummed when we walked toward the water is an UNDERstatement! My husband said, “I have an idea! My sister and I did this when we were little… Go buy some huge garbage bags.” I baulked. I gave him the look. Yet he insisted… “Trust Me,” he said. So I did. Voila! A memory was born. Recipe For ‘Fun In a Garbage Bag’ Materials: hot kids large garbage bags a hose a flat place Directions: Have hot kids stand or sit on the inside seam of the bag. Have “volunteer” Spray them fill the bags with water from the hose. Observe the fun. Confession: I was absolutely sure the kids would hate this activity. I was absolutely positive they would not participate. I was absolutely, positively, completely wrong! Lessons learned: Trust husband. Don’t take life so seriously that I neglect the overly simple. Divide “I’m too cool to try” kids from the “Sounds awesome!” kids. This varies in each home. Our 22, 17, and 13 year olds said, “No way.” Our 11 and 9 year old reluctantly tried and loved it. Warning: The water was from our well. We stopped when the boys truly began to shiver in the 95 degree yard. This activity would have been better in the shade. ALL water activities should be supervised. Use discretion with younger children. Good luck getting your older kids to try!!