Posts Tagged ‘schooling at home’
What Grade are you in?
That is a question that always stumped my homeschooled children because we didn’t follow grade levels, we followed their learning level. Many of us have experienced in our lives that different topics have a greater interest, or make more sense to us than others and therefore we may be better at it than something else.
I remember when I was in grade 6 and would participate in my cousin’s grade 9 spelling drills. I always scored higher than he did but when it came to math, I couldn’t keep up with the kids in my class. Unfortunately, since I was in the public school system I was given grade 6 English (in which I excelled and sometimes got bored with) and grade 6 math (which I barely passed). Since I knew that my level of learning differed with each subject I expected the same from my children. Sure enough, one excels in English but not math while the other is completely opposite with math being the stronger subject.
And so, if the child is excelling in English should I stiffle the flow by only allowing him to study at the grade level his age is meant to be at? If he is struggling in math do I keep pushing him forward in that level, or should I lower the level a little to give him a chance to understand. I chose to homeschool so that I could offer my children an education that I felt they deserved. Therefore, I chose not to follow grade levels but instead, to offer them each subject at a level that they could understand and learn from.
By offering lessons geared to the learning level of the child, they are encouraged to learn rather than being frustrated with learning. They are inspired to excel and proud of their accomplishments. They succeed at their own level, which is what is best for them!
Explorers made great discoveries – So can you!
Christopher Columbus took a risk and found the “New World”. Magellan took a risk and did not fall off the end of the Earth but went all the way around it. These explorers dreamed up an idea, followed it through and became great explorers.
Homeschoolers can be explorers too. Although there are the basic subjects to build a foundation like English and Math, home educators can explore other subjects of interest and curiosity and add them to their lesson plans. School curriculum does not cover espionage but homeschoolers can. Explore the world of spies learning geography, history, science and more. What about herbology? The study of plants used as medicine is another interesting yet not required course to study.
It is important to explore many subjects and interests in order for your child to make an informed decision on what they may want to pursue as a career. It is also more interesting for the child to discover topics that they are curious about.
Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance.
– Milton R. Saperstein
Explore the world, one subject at a time and increase the education of your child while also satisfying their curiosity!
Oil Spill – an environmental lesson plan
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.
The Quotable Homeschooler
He
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
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!
Game night – bring it into your school day!
There is much talk about family game night, a chance to spend quality time with the family. But board games shouldn’t be restricted to game night, they can be part of your school lesson plans!
Most board games offer learning through counting, matching and cooperation. There are also board games made specifically for their educational value, like phonics bingo or money matching games. Classic games like Monopoly and Scrabble have obvious educational value but games like Operation or Jenga can be great to develop hand/eye coordination and patience skills. The key to having board games enhance learning is to play them and have the child do the work. Have them count the spots on the die, then move the appropriate space. Have them find the colour that matches their own or count out the money owed. As they get older give them more opportunity to learn by letting them be the banker, or having them help a younger sibling spell words. Board games allow children to learn by doing, and by talking and by seeing – perfect to fit all learning styles. As an added bonus, playing a game can help active learners learn to sit still for a specific amount of time.
Make board games part of your lessons and see how much fun your children have learning!
When is a speech, not a speech?
When it is a magic act!
Preparing a child to speak in front of an audience can be difficult, especially if the child is shy. Hiding a speech into a different type of performance can be helpful.
A study about magic can include information about Houdini, various science experiments as well as a few magic tricks with cards or coins. After the lessons you can have your child perform a magic act for a small audience of family or friends. Their interaction with the audience, their presentation of the magic tricks and the memorization of each trick are all the same tools they would need to do a speech. By making it a less formal and fun experience the child will be less afraid. When the performance has been done once, any further performances will be even easier, and soon, even a speech won’t seem that scary!
Mixing fun with education is a great way to increase learning!
Living and Learning Green
The environment and the issues surrounding it is a common topic today. It is important to teach children about the environment, about the threats to it and about how they can help.
Simply reducing, reusing and recycling can be the first steps to helping the environment. Lead by example: recycle used paper (make sure you use both sides), seperate your trash into recyclable, compostable and reusable (great sorting lesson for kids). Donate out-grown clothing to a thrift store or charity, pay attention to packaging when buying products. Getting your children involved in the choices and the actions will help them learn how important it is to do.
Use downloadable resources so you only need to print the pages you need. Use household items meant for the recycling bin for crafts and science experiments. Melt down old crayons to make new ones, use a blackboard to write notes rather than paper. Adopt some wildlife as a gift for someone or as part of your school lesson plan. We adopted a sea turtle, then learned all about it and tracked his movements in the ocean!
Just the effort of thinking about it, and making good choices can make a world of difference.
To help pass the lesson on read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, underneath all the rhyme and silliness there is a strong message!
Our goal as homeschoolers is to help our children grow to have accomplished lives. The best way to do this is to show them how to live!
Book work in school is something everyone recognizes as education. But books don’t always teach what is important. Make sure your lessons include life lessons. Take a trip to the grocery store to understand nutritional food choices, price comparisons, recipe needs and budgeting. Follow recipes and do cooking and baking at home with your children or show them how to sew ( fixing a button or darning a sock can be a helpful lesson). Have them create goals, schedules, menus and budgets for themselves or for the family. Plan a family vacation together, use maps, travel brochures and such to learn about the place you are visiting. Have them follow a map on the travels, keep a travel diary about their trip so that they can record differences in the area compared to their own. Pretend and play such things as careers and parents to help them understand the responsibilities that go with a job, and a family.
Even discussions can be meaningful and educational. Talk about where garbage goes as you carry it out to the curb, discuss the importance of hygiene as you run a bath, even economics can be taught when negotiating an allowance.
Remember that what ever you do in life, be it housecleaning, grocery shopping, vacationing or a day at the beach, learning can be involved. And learning about life can be the best education a child can receive.
Comprendez?
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.