Posts Tagged ‘homeschool on a budget’
Homeschooling Sick Kids
Homeschooling is a choice parents make for many different reasons. But sometimes that choice is influenced greatly by a sick child. A child that struggles with an illness, a disability or a disorder may also struggle in school. Missed days cause them to fall behind in lessons. Issues during class may cause them to have to leave the room (which again results in a missed lesson). And comments from the other kids could cause emotional problems.
So, homeschooling is sometimes a better option for children that have a ‘special need.’ It can allow them to learn at their own pace, on the days when they feel good. It can allow creative lessons to help those learn that struggle with sitting still. It can create a more relaxed atmosphere for the child to learn in (sometimes added stress inflames the problem).
But it can also add more expense to an already expensive issue. Homeschoolers need to keep one parent home to teach, making it a one income family. Add to that the cost of medications and treatments, gas to doctors and specialists and the necessary books and resources needed for home lessons. Of course, parents feel it is worth it to help their child, and it is just one more choice they make on behalf of that child.
Do you know there are children being turned away for treatment because they can’t afford the cost of medications!
You can help by donating to this specific cause, or check with a Sick Kids hospital near you to find a family to help.
www.robbiesrainbow.ca
Homeschooling can get costly when you are buying all the books and materials needed for the lessons. But when it comes to math manipulatives, all you have to do is look around your house!
Manipulatives are defined as “any of various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand as a means of developing motor skills or understanding abstractions, especially in mathematics.” Using manipulatives in math can help explain tough concepts. Also, manipulatives are a great teaching tool to use for kinesthetic (hands-on) learners. Geometry manipulatives are easy to find around the house, just look for specific shapes – tin can (cylinder), sugar cube, book (rectangle) and the like. Counting manipulatives are also easy to find as you can use anything that you have a bunch of – marshmallows, paperclips, toilet rolls and more. Sorting and graphing manipulatives can be anything that differs in colour or shape – different coloured paper clips, beads or buttons or even cereal.
Before you spend the money on fancy math manipulatives, look around the house and see what there is you can use for free!
Lessons for spring – it’s a walk in the park
As the spring season meets us there a many chances for lessons in nature, science, health and more all you need to do is take a walk in the park (or neighbourhood, woods etc.)
The coming of spring brings a change in weather (Science), brings birds back to start their families (nature), creates new blossoms from the barren ground and trees (ecology) and brings sights, sounds and smells to inspire poetry (English).
When you take a walk in the spring, take your time. Look for new signs of life, listen for birds to identify and feel the warm winds on your face. Plan a garden, do a nature craft or learn about the power of the sun.
Get outdoors in the spring because you will find a lesson everywhere around you!
Garbage Day Craft Creations
Ever have one of those days when you are not sure what to teach? You are tired or not feeling well, have nothing prepared? Well why not have a Garbage Craft Day.
For this activity you need glue, tape, crayons and a recycling bin full of plastics, boxboard and paper. (avoid any dangerous items like metal cans). Make a pile of these recyclables in the middle of the room and give the kids a theme like – space ships or insects – then let them at it. Kids will spend hours sifting, creating and having fun building a garbage day creation. They will be learning engineering concepts as well as stretching their creativity. You can also follow up with lesson on recycling.
Smaller kids would love to use a cardboard box and turn it into a car, or rocket by adding wheels (pie plates, margarine tub lids etc), antenna, steering wheels and more!!
It is great to allow students to have self-directed activities, and very helpful on days when you need something to fill-in to your lesson!
Instant Lessons!
Downloadable ebooks are a great way to have instant lessons! Find the book, add it to your cart, download and print!
Downloading workbooks is time-saving, money-saving and paper-saving because you need only to print the pages you want. It gives you a great opportunity to fill in lessons with ready-made worksheets, templates and more. Even novels can be downloaded which can be great when there is a hard to find or popular book to be read for that lesson. Sometimes it is worth downloading a book to see if it is worth buying it for keeps. Audiobooks can also be downloaded to a computer or MP3 player, allowing for stories on the go, or to help the audio learner. Downloadable ebooks make quick and easy lesson plans with just a couple of clicks of the mouse!
A Lesson in Savings
There are many advantages to homeschooling but one big disadvantage is paying for all the books, workbooks, resources and curriculum you need each year. Of course there are curriculum companies that can sell you the entire lessons for that grade, but what if you have multiple grade levels and what about next year?
Your best method of building up your homeschool library that can benefit lessons in every level is to start early. Scour the shelves of used book stores. Dive into boxes of books at garage sales. Check out homeschool exchange sites. Locate other homeschoolers that might be finished with that year. Plan ahead and you can keep your homeschool resources within your budget.