Posts Tagged ‘study 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!
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.
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
A Picture is worth a thousand words
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!
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!
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!
A homeschooling family enjoys having time together but adding in planning for each school year can be time-consuming. Here are some time-saving teaching tips to help give you more family time, and less planning time.
When you schedule a week of school make room for a day to do errands. This can become part of the lessons, or a day of project/research work. Setting aside this time allows you to get things done without feeling the crunch of time constraints. At particularily busy times of the year use unit studies, curriculum that is already set up so there is little or no preparation work but lots of educational benefits. On weekend getaways or family vacations incorporate some lessons on geography, culture, economics and more. Filling in education in these extra places can help alleviate some of the structured work that needs planning. Finally, teach your kids how to organize themselves, find answers for themselves and structure their days, that means you have time to structure yourself without having to worry about keeping them on track.
Taking the fear out of reading
Scary movies, suspenseful novels – we all love a good scare. But sometimes, the pictures in picture books are too scary for children to enjoy reading the book. The wicked stepmother in Snow White can make you shudder, the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz can make you scream.
If you want your children to read these stories, help take the fear out of them. Download the book and offer them just the text. Go chapter by chapter and after each chapter is read, have them draw a picture. By the end you have a fully illustrated version of the story, all drawn by your child. It is a great keepsake, and a great way to make the characters easier to handle!
What happens when the homeschool parent/teacher is not in the mood to teach one day? Fatigue, illness or whatever complaint can keep a parent/teacher out of the classroom but it is their responsibility as a homeschooler to give the kids a good educaton.
This is a great time to assign a project. Create a powerpoint presentation, write a story, create a comic book. All these ideas are creative and can be done individually by the child. Or, provide them with a learning video and let them learn from a different teacher that day. There are many ways a child can be educated and there is nothing wrong with them working alone sometimes. This gives them some independence and encourages them to look up things on their own.