Archive for the ‘homeschooling’ Category
Back to School Tips – Learning Styles!
As you get ready to start a new year of lessons make sure you are aware of all your children’s learning styles. There are three main learning styles Auditory (hearing), Visual (seeing) and Kinetic (doing). A child can be strong in one particular style or a combination of two styles.
It is important to understand a child’s learning style so that you can find the best way to teach to them. Of course it is important to develop all the learning styles in a child but especially necessary to teach to their learning style on a subject that they struggle with.
Be creative with your lesson plans so that each learning style is practiced. This is especially helpful when teaching more than one child the same topic. Use manipulatives in math, science and spelling class (for kinetic learners), Read stories out loud or use music to accompany lessons (for audio learners) and use pictures and colour codes to help the visual learner.
If you want to find out your child’s learning style, download this free questionnaire.
Even as homeschoolers it is important to have a specific area for school lessons. A place where the students know that school work is done here – each student should have a separate work space/desk and a shelf for their books. As we start to plan for back to school, here are some ideas on getting this school space ready.
First look around the space and determine what is available that will be used for this year’s school year. Then make a list of what is still needed (perhaps a chair from another room or some school supplies from the store). Take away anything in the area that is not school related, especially anything that might be distracting (toys for example). Organize the school items so that frequently used items are easily on hand and items which are used less often are neatly stored away (on a shelf or in a drawer). Have new workbooks or binders, texts and lesson books ready on an easy to access shelf.
Now, organize your desk/work area using the same steps. Get out your lesson plan organizer and start to plan ahead!
Everyone has heard about the BP oil spill that resulted from an oil rig explosion in April. Although the flow of oil has now been capped, the repercussions have only just begun.
Nature and the environment are a great Science lesson. The oil spill can add to this lesson by showing the damage that occurs when the delicate balance is destroyed. Incorporate geography so kids can see where the spill occurred, and track the waterways that may show evidence of the oil spill. Create science experiments that show how oil and water react together and try to figure out ways to clean the oil from the water. Create a project about sea life and what kinds of animals are affected by the oil spill, directly and indirectly. Even an economic lesson plan could be created to identify the loss to the local fisherman and other water based businesses.
It is easy to lay the blame on the company and its slow reaction to the problem, but discuss with the students what they might have done. How long would their ‘fix’ take to implement, would it work? Obviously the oil spill is a disaster but more time should be spent on solving the problem and preventing it from happening again then on what could have been done better.
Current events can make great lesson plans and keep students up to date in the world.
Blackbeard – a reading comprehension activity
One of the most famous pirates to ever sail the seas was Edward Teach who is better known for his nickname, Blackbeard.
Teach began his pirate career as a teenager on board a ship captained by Benjamin Hornigold, a British privateer. Teach remained part of Hornigold’s crew throughout the War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War). By the end of the war Teach had become an experienced sea robber. After the war he joined a group of fierce Caribbean pirates. Soon, he became captain of his own ship.
Teach, who then became known as Blackbeard gained a reputation as the most frightening pirate. His appearance was also fearsome. He was over six feet tall and always well armed. Across his chest he wore a sling that held three pairs of pistols. A cutlass and a few knives completed his attire. His long black beard was braided and often, before a fight, he would put smoking fuses in his hat to make him look menacing. Even his own crew thought him to be the devil himself.
Blackbeard’s ship was a French frigate called Concorde. When it was captured it held twenty-six guns (cannons). Blackbeard upgraded the ship to forty guns and renamed it “Queen Anne’s Revenge.” Blackbeard and his crew terrorized sailors in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea from 1716 to 1718.
He would pull aside a merchant ship and raise his flag demanding surrender. Blackbeard’s flag was not the traditional skull and crossbones. His flag contained a skeleton with horns and hooves which symbolized that he was in league with the devil. The skeleton held an hour glass in one hand and a spear in the other. The spear was aimed at a red heart which dripped blood. These were to symbolize that time had run out and surrender or blood would be spilled. The sight of Blackbeard’s flag added to his fearsome reputation usually led to immediate surrender. In fact, there is not record of Blackbeard ever killing anyone.
In 1718, Blackbeard established a base in the British colonies at what is now North Carolina. From this base he pirated ships along the North American coast. He would steal their goods and sell them to the local townspeople. After Blackbeard decided to settle down, the governor granted him a pardon in June of 1718. But when Blackbeard began pirating again Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy was sent to stop Blackbeard once and for all. On November 22, 1718, Blackbeard and Maynard fought in hand-to-hand combard on board Maynard’s ship The Adventure. Blackbeard suffered twenty sword wounds and five gun shot wounds until he was finally killed by a slash to the throat.
Maynard hung Blackbeard’s severed head from the bow of his ship as a warning to other pirates. It was the end of Blackbeard’s reign of terror.
For the complete unit study go to www.homeeducationresourceemporium.com/unit-studies
There are many definitions for success. My focus, is to have the child do well, enjoy the challenge and want to keep learning and improving -to me, that is homeschooling success.
Helping your child achieve this success can be a combination of words, thoughts and motivations. Encouraging words can go a long way to help anyone succeed. Point out improvements, creativity and proper behaviour. Keep your comments and words positive rather than negative. If you are marking a test or projects, use only checkmarks – if things are wrong they can be discussed afterward but without writing X’s on the page. Discussion about the tests, the project or any other work or behaviour can lead to positive reinforcement and an understanding of what would have been a better answer or action.
It is important to think before addressing a child’s behaviour or poor work. Think about what influences may have led to the problem, what behaviours they may be copying or what challenges they have faced recently that may be affecting them. We can recognize that everyone has bad days, bad moments and bad judgements. A child that is learning must also be taught appropriate behaviours, reactions etc in order for them to interact appropriately.
Understanding a child’s learning style is also an important step to their success. Recognizing how they learn best and then helping them learn using that style will not only help them learn but give them confidence to continue to do well. Understanding that children learn differently and at different paces will help you provide proper encouragement and lessons for each child. Motivating them to work hard, challenging them to stretch their abilities and encouraging them to keep trying are all great influences to provide them.
Of course, the world is not as encouraging as we are and at times children will run into negative people and influences. It is important to teach them how to deal with these challenges as well. Face negativity with confidence so that it doesn’t have a devastating affect. Remove yourself from situations that are degrading and negatively charged. And discuss any issues or problems they have faced that has troubled them.
Positive thoughts, words and motivations are the key steps to homeschooling success!
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re are some great, meaningful quotes to help inspire, encourage and support homeschoolers!
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ”
– William Butler Yeats
” What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children’s growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn’t a school at all.”
–John Holt
” The idea is to educate, not follow anyone’s schedule about when something should be studied. ”
–Ray Drouillard
“Educating a child is a natural process. Home schooling is nothing more than an extension of parenting.” ~Sue Maakestad
He is educated who knows how to find out what he doesn’t know. – George Simmel, German Philosopher
Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be rather a sort of amusement; this will better enable you to find out the natural bent of the child. – Plato
“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” Flora Whittemore
There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.
-Ghandi
The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you learned this afternoon.
– Anonymous
So, the first mountain you have climbed led you to the decision to homeschool your child. It sure was an uphill battle but at last you have reached the top and feel accomplished.
So now, your child would like to learn about car mechanics, or magpies or even mustard plants. But you don’t know about any of those things! In this case, there really isn’t a mountain to climb. It is just a little hill that can easily be reached by a little reading and research. Look to the library for books on the subject, or find some unit studies and workbooks to help you plan a lesson. Ask people in the neighbourhood or family that have had experience with the subject and just get in there and learn it together!
Homeschooling does have its share of mountains to climb, but teaching subjects that are unfamiliar doesn’t have to be one of them. You may be surprised how much you learn, and enjoy learning in the process!
Recently I just read about a charity that is helping to supply books to homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters etc in order to give the kids there something to read. Imagine the gift these books will be to allow kids to soar away with their imagination and leave behind the cruel world around them.
“I met a child who loved to read but didn’t own a book. I found a lot more like her when I took a closer look.
I rallied troops to help me and we sought books by the heap. And now we find the kids in need and give them books for keeps!”
This is the motto for Books for Keeps which I think it is worth all of us adopting.
Another great way to help give books to others is through BookMooch. This is a book swap site in which you post books you wish to give thereby earning points. You can then use your earned points to choose books you would like to mooch from others. Your only cost is the shipping cost of the books that are mooched from you! I often have people ask if I have a certain book, and if I can find it on there for free I will pass it along to them!
Many local libraries also collect books near the holidays in order to give the gift of reading to those less fortunate. Books are such an integral part of learning, and learning is an important part of life. So giving the gift of reading, or even a used book, is necessary so that there is at least one book for all!
Pictures and photos are great tools to use in lesson plans.
Not only can you incorporate a photography or art lesson, but you can also bring in science, english, history and more. Have the student create a photo mosaic of a field trip or family vacation, this could include, maps, postcards, photos and drawings about the event. Use photos to tell a story, photos can be a great way to inspire creative writing. Cut out pictures from a magazine and write a poem about them. Use pictures to create a historical timeline, this can help create understanding of the flow of events as well as create memory aids to remember the important time period. Use drawings to create a gadget or new invention, then write a description about how it works. Take a photo of a plant and then label it with the various parts. Use photos to make flashcards, a memory game or a scrapbook, familiar pictures will have more meaning to the student and keep their interest level high!
Sequencing, following instructions, creative writing and even math concepts can all incorporate pictures, a personal way to learn and much easier for the visual learner.
Music is a great learning tool for the classroom. It is especially useful for auditory learners.
Music can be from sounds of the orchestra in an actual music lesson but can also be incorporated into other subjects to help remember important details. School House Rock did a great job of incorporating music into lessons to teach about grammar, government and more. After all these years I can still remember the songs!
Sounds are as effective as songs. Having a beat to do multiplication tables can be quite useful. Clapping out syllables or tapping through spelling words can all generate a type of music into the lesson plan. Not only does it help kids remember the information, but it can keep kids moving too.
Try music with dance for a bit of exercise or a fifteen minute break. Music helps soothe the body and the dance can help get some anxieties out. Bring music into the science lesson by learning about sound waves, the ear or how animals use sound. Bring it into history by learning the background of different instruments, the biographies of various composers or the history of the different genres of music. In English you can analyze song lyrics, or write you own songs. And you can bring it into art by drawing while listening to music to feel the music and interpret it into a picture.
Combining music with each subject is an entertaining way to make the lessons more sharp and less flat!