Successful Homeschooling: What if… What if by the time you finish teaching your kids… They are kind. They are confident. They look people in the eye when spoken to. They befriend the new kids. What if: They put down their phone when others are in the room. They are strong and hard working. They know how to cook, chop wood and change the oil on a car. They are compassionate and caring. They LOVE to read and devour the written word. They never text and drive What if: They hunt down information when their interests are piqued. They can balance their checkbook and manage a budget. They can break down a project into a workable timeline. They can manage a calendar. They can create powerpoint presentations and present their ideas to a group. Related: Download your free “WHAT IF” printable What if: They know how to receive instruction. They can add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. They can measure accurately using various tools. They can take a disappointment in stride. They lose with dignity and win with humility. Follow me on YouTube What if: They pass on compliments (…”my dad taught me that”) They can manage their own small business, like lawn care. They put things back where they found them. They acknowledge that a great team is worth its weight in gold. They master the art of harmony– working together blending talents and abilities for the greater good. … Read More »
How to Homeschool When that First homeschool Year is a Flop Sifting through my emails over coffee reading through questions form homeschool moms. How do you get kids to read? How do I teach kids respect for others and themselves? How do teach a child to write? And then my heart sunk. This one wasn’t a question, but an exhale of defeat from a mom who just began my free Homeschooling with confidence class. “My homeschool year was a flop”. … Read More »
Simple Doodle Art for Beginners Inside: A Free Doodle Lesson for you and Your KidsAs parents, we have big dreams for our kids. We want them to laugh and love, and learn and grow. We want them to embrace life by the horns and fall in love with learning.We want them to have grit and tenacity and an almost unquenchable confidence. But the real issue is how to we squeeze those skills into our kids’ day without them noticing.Come on. Your kids can smell a life lesson and confidence boosting activity as fast as mine. They don’t like to be told they are learning. That’s boring.They want to inquire, explore, and discover!We need to become experts at setting our kids up to succeed at something that they are convinced is too hard. It’s a ninja parenting skill.Want to borrow my latest Ninja Trick? Teaching kids to draw.Enroll today!The Power of DoodlingAccording to Harvard. Doodling isn’t just what 3-year olds do on the paper placemats at the restaurant. Yes! Doodling!Easy Floral doodles and Drawings at your finger tipsDoodling:Improves memoryRelieves stressImproves focusBuilds confidenceDon’t those things fit right on your parenting checklist, too?Let Diane teach your kids to draw!If they can draw a dot, they can doodle. And if they can doodle, a whole world will open to them just waiting to ignite their imagination.The Doodle Institute with Diane Bleck.After completing a few classes with Diane at the Doodle Institute, I became an ambassador. Which basically means I was handed all the MAGICAL tools and skills needed to help your kids fall in love with drawing.Oh, It’s amazing how happy a cute little flower, a silly alien, colorful rocket ship, or a buzzing bee house will make you and your child!Inside the Doodle InstituteAll you need to get started is something to write with and something to write on. Use the supplies you have add fun things if and when you can.Pro tips:Watch the Doodle Videos with your kids and doodle together.Practice a little everydayFind opportunities to doodle as you are teachingPractice, practice, practice.Encourage kids to sign their drawingsDrawing with pencil, pen, or brush on paper isn’t just for artists. For anyone who actively exercises the brain, doodling and drawing are ideal for making ideas tangible.Steven HellerJoin the Doodle Institute TODAY and see what all the fuss and fun is all about.I bet you and you kids will fall in love with doodling.Researchers have discovered that doodling can actually inspire creativity, engage students academically, and help hold their attention.Learning Liftoff DoodlingKeeps the Brain ActiveImproves Memory RecallEncourages CreativityRecruits Additional SensesTools for DoodlingPaper and pencil, right?Sure! But if you really want to give your kids a true taste of the magic, you can hand them some inexpensive HIGH quality tools.Spiral Bound Drawing pads that can also be used with watercolorsArtist Markers. Quality makes a difference!Doodle Classes!! Do you doodle?Don’t let fear, frustration, or doubt creep in. Truly you can draw as well as with practice!Practice! Even if it’s just for 5 minutes and it doesn’t need to be a perfect final piece. Every single time you’re drawing and sketching, you’re improving not only your lines but also your confidence!Looking for classes for YOU or your older kids? The Doodle Institute is for you as well. But if you’d prefer a “Visual Facilitator for Adults”, then my teacher Diane with the Doodle Institute is the ticket!Doodling. Yes, it will give your children confidence, fine motor control, and increase their ability to retain what they learn. But remember, it’s even better than that. It’s FUN.And it’s good for the soul…
How to Unpack Your Curriculum and Keep Your Smile Inside: a Guide to help you unpack your curriculum and plan your school year It’s finally here!! All the math, language, history and science curriculum I need to teach the boys next year. If it were edible, my mouth would be watering. “Just yesterday” I was seven, playing school with my little sisters. Sitting in our classroom made of stuffed animals, coloring books, and crayons, I was the best teacher on the planet. I explained, lectured, and inspired those wild little girls to earn their Ph.D.’s of play-school and loved every second of it. It was one of my favorite games. A bazillion years later, I’m still playing school. Homeschool Moms LOVE to Plan Curriculum. We even jump through a few hoops before we settle on a plan. Attending conferences Listening to homeschool moms at the park Calling all the homeschool moms we know and picking their brains Looking for the best homeschool group on Facebook Spending countless hours online researching Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Eclectic and all the other styles of homeschooling. Which one is best, right, wrong, do-able? Pulling out hair out as we realize we have a lot to learn, but refusing to give in to overwhelm. Related reading: Top 8 Homeschool Methods With all the choices available, we devote our hearts, souls and a little sweat and tears to finding the perfect mix of resources to teach our kids. And then we click that magic BUY button and wait. Thank you Amazon Prime! Free shipping and everything will be here soon! Related: So, God Made You a Homeschool Mom The anticipation of the new school year is wonderful as we daydream about clean, decluttered, and peaceful homes obedient children snuggled at our feet listening attentively to a read-alouds and skipping joyfully to the kitchen table to do math assignments little faces with twinkling eyes and eager hungry minds. We just KNOW it’s gonna be an incredible year! We walk away from our computers with a smile of confidence and life moves forward. You’ve got this! Until you don’t… The baby is teething, your four-year-old refuses to wear anything but her fairy princess wings, rubber boots, and a sparkly tiara, and your 12-year old thinks this obnoxious t-shirt, weird pool floaty, and book make the perfect gift for your hubby’s birthday. Funny thing is he’s probably right. He did technically follow your rule of: something to read something to wear something fun I guess you can be thankful he forgot the Squatty-potty! Related: Survival Tips for living with a 12-year-old son A blink in time and a few weeks of swimming lessons later, the doorbell rings and the friendly UPS driver asks for your signature on that fancy little pad of hers. She kindly places the 3 huge boxes just inside the door for you since you obviously have your hands full with a fussy baby. You can’t wait. At naptime, you begin to crack open the boxes. So much excitement. So much anticipation. So. Many. Things… You keep reaching in and pulling out more, and more, and more. Textbooks Workbooks Extension activities Teachers manuals Solution keys The first box is endless. Sweat begins to bead on your forehead and your heart begins to race as panic hits. “How the heck do I turn all of this stuff into a fun, exciting, enriching education?” Whether you bought a prepackaged kit, pulled resources from the library, or received a hand-me-down box of goodies, the feelings about a new homeschool year, adventures and curriculum are universal. Excitement. The fantasies about how amazing the next homeschool year will be float around in our peach colored mind. Nervousness. Can I really teach all these subjects without messing up my child’s education? Overwhelm. Wow, where do I start? Panic. Forget it, this is way too hard Resolve. “I guess I need to figure this out all on my own.” In the first couple years of homeschooling, I learned a trick that’s helped me get familiar with a new curriculum, find it’s core and create a plan of attack for teaching all with a smile on my face. (I even unboxed a new curriculum LIVE on Facebook to show you what it looks like) There is no right or wrong way to homeschool, no perfect curriculum, no perfect system…just your way. Unfortunately, it may take a while for you to settle on the “right blend” of goals, expectations, textbooks, curriculum, activities, and coffee. Don’t you wish there was a magic wand to help you? I dropped my magic wand somewhere between my make-believe classroom of stuffed animals and my adult life steeped in boys, Legos, and high hopes. But, I did find a way that makes unpacking and organizing curriculum that helps homeschoolers prepare for their school year, even if they’ve been teaching for years like me. I even made a handy little printable. I am always on the hunt for excellent resources to help me along in my own homeschool journey, and then I condense them down to the best of the best to pass them on to others. When I came home with 4 big boxes of curriculum, I was elated. Another veteran homeschooler called me to say, “I have everything you need to teach high school, you should swing by and take your pick!” She wasn’t kidding! After a few wonderful hours of visiting and talking about kids, health, life, and homeschool I drove away with everything I need to teach math, history, science, and language for the upcoming school year. Then I did something crazy. I did a LIVE facebook video to demonstrate how I approach a new set of curriculum. It was uncut, unedited, and unscripted… But so necessary to show mamas that even veteran homeschoolers get overwhelmed by a big stack of possibilities and need to take a few steps to dig down to the core and develop a plan. 4 Steps to Getting to Know Your Curriculum Work on One Subject and Grade at a time {Grab your complete guide here} #1 Find the main Textbook/Workbook Dig into the box and find the core piece of curriculum: Example the Student Textbook. Open to the table of contents: Ask Your self: How many Chapters or Units? What do I already know? Which topics do I need to study? And now, I’m hungry for more. #2 Table of Contents Using the Table of Contents as a guide, complete the Ways to Explore Worksheet #3 Organize and Activities Organization for step 4. You’re gonna need a way to store and organize your 2-6 weeks of ideas {Examples in the guide} pick and choose activities and resources for each subject’s “unit” or chapter #4 Planner Fill up your lesson planner, files, and student planners! 2-6 weeks at a time. I still have history, science, and language to explore, but my educational tummy is rumbling. You can find those Unboxing videos at https://www.facebook.com/ABetterWayToHomeschool/videos/ I just love this part of homeschooling, don’t you! Links for you: 4 easy steps to getting to know your curriculum {printable} Video Demonstration on facebook as I unbox 2 levels of math White elephant gift set: Shirt, book, pool float, and stool Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class. We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets. Enroll in the sneak peek class here.
Homeschooling Magic: Lessons From A Stranger’s Purse Inside: 8 Steps to help you create a plan for house management, meals, routines, fun, and homeschool. The first time we flew across the country with our then 3-year old, we thought we were ready. The flight was only supposed to be a few hours long- how bad could it be? We made sure our son slept well the night before, we ran him ragged before the flight, we packed some of his favorite toys and snacks, and we boarded the flight with a smile. We were sure we were ready. I was sure I was ready. Ha. … Read More »
I Quit: Again! (write down your bad days. you’ll laugh later… This was one of my “bad days” last year-enjoy) Today is definitely one of those days. I should have quit when: The ceiling started dripping. I realized the water was coming from the upstairs bathroom. When I called the landlord to tell her that the upstairs bathroom was leaking into the downstairs bathroom. When my 7th grader decided I was “wasting his time by trying to get him to write down a few math steps”. My 7th grader was shaking in frustration, confusion, and rebellion. The plumber came and asked me where the main water turn off was for our new home. My 6the grader decided that 2 hours was an appropriate time limit for a lesson that was begun with the words, “honey, I am letting you do this easy math lesson today so you can practice three things: neatness, discipline, and timing…” I looked at my 6th grader’s paper only to discover he had only neatly written the lesson number after 30 minutes. My 4th grader disappeared from the school area… AGAIN. My 7th grader announces to me, in front of the plumber, “mom, ______ just bit ______” (no names to protect the guilty) Related: The Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Ok, I really should have quit when: I realized that one of my kids bit another of my kids. (Really? I have No kids under the age of 9!!!) The guilty child was just “play biting in order to get his toy back…” (I repeat. My kids are older than 9). The plumber asks, “So… You homeschool?” I reply, “Yes sir. Only today is one of those days that I question homeschooling!” I really, really, really should have quit when: The boys almost hung the dog. Accidentally of course. So, I quit. Just now. I sent the boys to bed until tomorrow. (Or until I cool down, whichever comes first) Do you ever keep going on a day that clearly communicates, “STOP!” Tell me, I’m not the only one!! [leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=142a79846639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox] Print this free homeschool mom reminder.This post comes with a free printable reminder list to help keep your heart focused on the heart of homeschooling. I always have the hardest staying focused. This printable simplifies it!Here is a sneak preview…Download Your Free PrintableDownload the checklist. You’ll get the printable, plus join 9,000+ homeschool moms who receive my weekly parenting tips and ideas!Print. Any paper will do the trick, but card stock would be ideal.Place it on your refrigerator as a helpful reminder.
Homeschooling and Life: Perspective I’m sitting here enjoying a cup of coffee next to my youngest son. It’s raining outside. Really raining. We flipped the sofa around so we could enjoy the stunning fall view out of our window (in the picture), and it got me thinking about perspective. Life gets crazy. Toddlers find nail polish and paint the floor. Teenagers spend all day on social media and then need help on an essay late at night. Coworkers try to undermine each other. The paycheck runs out before the next payday. The power goes out and nothing in my agenda was able to be accomplished. Etcetera Life. Home. HomeSchool. Work. Ministry. They can all become dark, dreary, and dismal at times, can’t they? When they do, flip the “sofa” around. I’m a Jesus believing, faith walking, prayer warrior. Yet, I can still get down right despondent, disturbed, and depressed (Dr. Seuss). I have to make small tweaks to my day to improve my outlook. Suggestions? These will sound simplistic, but they have worked for me this week: Rainy and dark: flip the sofa around and look out the window. Teenager misused his time: sat next to him and helped him on his essay, hugged him tight, and removed his phone from his hand the next day. Paycheck runs out before payday (we really try to stick to our budget): made “depression meal” of Bush beans and hotdogs. Kids loved it. Power outage: great day! We went for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful place we currently lived and discovered: We are going to identify each next week (homeschool impromptu lessons) Co-worker drama: prayed, really prayed (have you seen War Room?). God stepped in and saved the day. Is homeschool not working? Change your perspective: Take the kids outside. find something cool and then go learn about it together. Try notebooking Go to the library and find books related to whatever you are studying in history and science. Marinate in the topics. Go to discovery education or YouTube and find videos about whatever you are learning. (You’ll need to pre-screen them). Put the kids in charge of school for a day. They teach you! Cook a meal or dessert together to bless another family. Participate in a community event. Join a 5k run with the kids and train together. Visit you nearest museum. Go to the park, farms, beaches, caves, mountains, deserts, or prairies near you. give your kids dry erase markers and do “school” on the mirrors or windows. Tape their papers under their chairs and have them work lying on their backs. We get into ruts. So do our kids. Changing our perspective is sometimes all it take to bounce to a better place!
Electricity and Magnetism Electricity and Magnetism 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+! Don’t you just love YouTube? I am using a cool hands on kit to teach the kids about electricity and motors. You can see the actual kit here: Elenco Snap Circuits UC-40 Upgrade Kit SC-100 to SC-500 (affiliate link) What is unbelievable is that even I can teach them about electricity using this kit! I know nothing about electricity and even less about motors and physics. This step by step, easy to snap and operate kit makes me seem brilliant! I do not know about you, but I love things like this. Every time we complete a simple project, we do YouTube research. Did I already tell you I love YouTube? We found a neat little instruction video that taught us all about electricity, magnetic fields, and the homopolar motor. Enjoy learning along side your kids! Did You Enjoy this Article? Subscribe here to make sure you do not miss a thing:)