Bringing History Alive
History can be a subject that is overwhelming to learn. So many names, dates and events, it can cause children to shut down and not want to learn. It is important to make subjects like this come alive so that kids can enjoy studying them!
Plan a project on a favorite topic and combine historic elements into it. For example learning about horses can encompass many eras of history including medieval times and Native American culture. Field trips are also helpful for bringing history alive. Many historic sites have costumed interpreters that help kids understand how it was back then. Some places even have programs where children can dress up and “live” in history too! Art, poetry and music contain historic references that can be developed into a further project. And don’t forget unit studies, history can be followed in a unique way through a unit study. For example, early History of Canada can be followed through forts - this would take you through the fur trade, the War of 1812 and the North West Mounted Police encompassing all of the country!
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Every New Year resolutions are made, promises are made but not always kept. The idea of New Year’s resolutions is a good start to a lesson in goal setting.
Children should learn the importance of setting goals, creating a plan and following through to complete it and reach their goal. First, they should start with a small goal, something that will take a month or less to fulfill - saving money for a small toy, completing a project etc. Once they have succeeded at reaching that goal, a bigger one can be made. Goal setting not only will help keep them organized with school work, finances and even chores but will also give them great life skills for the future. High school aged students need to plan future goals for college and career, this includes subject choices that will give them the knowledge for future classes and studies. Make sure goals are attainable and they will less likely be forgotten, like those New Year resolutions!
The holiday season can sometimes get over commercial, and focused on buying. Encourage your children to make gifts this year.
A homemade gift is not only appreciated by the person who received it but is a learning experience for the giver. Crafted tree ornaments, knitted mittens, wooden plaque and more not only allow children to give something that they created but also lets them learn in the process. A calendar of photos taken by your child is a useful, visually pleasing gift, and your child as learned photography skills, fancily decorated cookies makes a great gift and involves your child in a cooking class (math and science involved there!) Even just a homemade card can lend for a pleasant smile and a lesson in art. So have a creative class, and let your kids create!
Holiday time can be a busy time and put a strain on the scheduled school time. So why not take a break this holiday season?
Start your child on a novel study so they can read while travelling to friends and family. Give them worksheets of puzzles and games that they can do on the go. Or start a unit study that they can do on their own. Take educational board games with you when you visit so they can learn and play with friends and family. All these ideas still allow for learning but in a less structured way to allow for the breaks during the holidays.
In high school, I took drama class. We acted out plays in front of audiences, memorized soliloquies and learned lighting techniques. As a home schooled student, your child doesn’t have to miss out on drama class!
Of course, a group of kids can get together, dress up and play act, many times they do that anyway. But stories can also be acted out by using puppets. Children can make their own puppets or you can use bought ones. A great way to check for reading comprehension is to have them act out the last part of the story they read using puppets! It is also a great creative source for them to tell their own made up stories.
Puppets are great manipulatives too. For those kinesthetic learners puppets can help with reading, history and more because they can have movement with puppets!
Knowing your child’s learning style is important so that you know how to teach them the best way they can learn.
Some kids need to hear the lessons (auditory learners), some need to see it (visual learners) and some need to be involved in the lesson (kinesthetic learners). Knowing which style is their strongest will help you know how to teach each lesson. Although it is good to teach each learning style so that kid’s can strenghten each one, it is best to teach to their learning style on subjects they are less familiar with or struggling with. To find out the learning style of your child, just fill out a learning styles questionnaire about them.
Take an in depth look at the holidays around the world celebrated at this time of year. There are lots of crafts and activities that can be inspired from them.
December 6 is St. Nicholas day in the Netherlands. St. Nicholas gifts are meant to be shared - inspire sharing in your child by having them donate some of their toys to a good cause.
December 13 is Santa Lucia day in Sweden. Santa Lucia stands as a symbol of light and
hope to all mankind - her day is celebrated with lights and gingerbread cookies - you can bake cookies to help celebrate this day!
December 21 is the first day of winter. The Winter Solstice is a time to celebrate friends and family - make a wreath for the door so everyone that visits feels welcomed.
Chanukah starts December 22. It is an eight day festival of lights in the Jewish faith. Candles are an important part of this holiday - make candles to give as gifts - roll beeswax or make dipped candles
Kwanzaa is based on the Nguzo Saba (seven guiding principles), one for each day
of the observance, and is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st - have your family create their own “rules/principles” to guide them through the new year ahead.
Make the holidays educational!
The choice to homeschool your child through high school is not the only choice to be made. Through online and correspondance course, students can take accredited courses that will earn them their high school credits and diploma. Or, you can continue following the homeschool path and give them an equivalent education and then they can write entrance exams to get into post-secondary education. Accredited courses can be costly, and not all courses are offered so optional credits may be harder to obtain, but some families prefer to have the diploma at the end. Continuing on the homeschool path can enrich the students education in courses that they like and prefer. By this time, you are homeschooling pros so you can make your choice as to which one suits your family best!
It is great when students can move on to independent reading, but how do you know they are understanding what they are reading?
Reading aloud is still important to do even after the student has acquired independent reading skills so you know they understand what they are reading. You can take turns reading a story aloud to make your child more comfortable. Or have a storytelling session, have your child read aloud to you and the next day do the same for him/her. This can be further developed into creating stories as each person can add to the story as it is told. It is a fun way to make sure what is read is understood.