Posts Tagged ‘educational DVDs’
Making Mountains out of Mole Hills
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!
For many homeschoolers, learning is an integral part of their life, their everyday routine. Every day there is learning whether it be in the classroom, on a field trip or running errands.
It is important to encourage learning. An easy way to do this is giving educational gifts. A book, a game, a science kit or even a craft kit all have the potential to inspire learning in children. Don’t forget educational video games too – fun and learning together! Inspire learning not only in your own children, but other children to whom you give gifts.
So what makes home-schoolers qualified to teach our children? Well, obviously we can’t know everything, but we can look it up and learn it along with them, relegate to a professional or provide instructional video to teach the lesson.
Many times, the tip for teaching a subject that is not familiar is to read ahead. Staying a chapter or two ahead of your student will allow you to help them learn and answer their questions. Field trips can also be used in place of a lesson that you may not know as much about. Let the experts help you! Instructional DVDs can also be helpful. A DVD that teaches French can be a useful resource for parent teachers that haven’t any French background. The key to teaching what you don’t know is to know where to get help!
As the parent of a home-schooled child, it’s important to stay on the cutting edge of educational technology. Out of the many unfair claims that are constantly hurled at home educators, the idea that they are “out of touch” might be one of the most damaging. Public school systems are often woefully out-of-date in the technology department. Budgetary complications alone generally keep small school systems from being able to afford nice, new computers for their entire student body.
Home-schooled kids have an obvious advantage in that they don’t have to wait their turn to use a computer. Nor do they have to add their names to waiting lists before finally getting access to educational DVDs for children. Just as one-on-one instruction does a wealth of good for a young student, so does easy access to critical learning materials. In the 21st century, DVD players and computers are the bread and butter of study aids – in addition to books, of course.
An auditory learner is one that learns better with hearing. The more sounds that can be brought into the lesson, the better this learner will understand.
Sounds can be from reading aloud, books on tape, movies on DVD or video, computer games and more. Music is also a strong teacher for auditory learners which means rhyming, rhythm and beats can help enforce lessons. Singing multiplication tables, rhyming poems about history or stomping out spelling words are all great learning devices for auditory learners.
Understanding learning styles can create a more effective learning environment. A child will learn better when his/her learning style is addressed. This is especially helpful for subjects where they are struggling.
A visual learner learns by seeing. One of the best methods to teach visual learners is through video, DVD or other movie type media. There are many different educational videos that span all subjects. Using visual media throughout a lesson will help increase their ability to learn. Picture books, posters, maps, flash cards and other types of visual materials will also help this type of learner.