Homeschool Preschool - 5 Reasons to Teach Your Child at Home

Many parents are homeschooling preschool instead of sending their young children to preschool away from home. Here are 5 reasons you should homeschool preschool.

1. Children will learn in their own time, and many 3 and 4 year-olds aren't ready for a structured classroom environment. Forcing preschoolers into strict learning environments can produce anxiety and reduce a love for learning. Young children learn best in an environment that is free from competition and pressure to perform.

2. We have all seen children clinging tightly to their mother's leg, begging not to be sent into the classroom alone. Some preschoolers aren't ready for large amounts of time away from their parents. Many children still need one on one attention, frequent hugs and a familiar lap to sit on.

3. Negative social behaviors such as cliques, teasing and bullying can begin as young as age 3 or 4. Many preschoolers internalize these negative experiences, and become insecure, shy and withdrawn. When parents homeschool preschool, they have an opportunity to observe and coach their children during difficult interactions and teach their children positive social skills.

4. By homeschooling preschool, parents can model positive behavior for their children. At home, preschoolers also have plenty of opportunities to learn to share with siblings, manage feelings and serve their family members. These early years are an excellent time to build good habits and reinforce family values.

5. The preschool years pass much too quickly, and once those moments are lost, they will not return. Parents who homeschool their preschoolers have more time to spend time bonding with their children. Homeschooling creates special family memories that give children the security and confidence they will need to thrive when they leave home.

Author Info:

Here is some additional information about homeschooling preschoolers.

Carletta Sanders is a homeschool mom of 3. For homeschool information and activities delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for her homeschool newsletter.

Homeschool Parents & Kids - Learn How to Find Others Who is Homeschooled in Your Area

Homeschool parents, or those considering homeschooling, often wonder if they're the only ones in their area. With the latest Department of Education study citing over 1 million homeschooling families, that is not likely. Finding other homeschoolers, however, may not always be easy. You need to know where to look.

One common place where you might find other homeschoolers are local churches. While not every homeschooler is Christians, and it obviously isn't a requirement, many homeschoolers are. Even if you aren't a regular church-goer, you might consider attending some services to see if there are other homeschoolers there. Of course this can apply to a synagogue or mosque as well.

Libraries are another good place to seek homeschoolers. Many homeschooling parents use the local library as a source for learning materials. If you go to the library and see children there during normal school hours, it's very probable they are homeschooled children, and a parent is probably nearby. You could also ask the librarian if she knows of any homeschoolers. Most likely she will because they are probably some of her best patrons.

Try bringing your kids to the park during normal school hours; you may run into another homeschooling family there enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. They may even be doing something to related to school projects. In any case, local parks are a great place to find homeschoolers.

Keep your eyes open while shopping at the grocery store; many homeschoolers use real life activities like grocery shopping to teach rather than just depending on books. If you see children standing around the produce isle with calculators, it's likely they're working on their math lessons.

Of course, the Internet is a great place to find homeschoolers in your area. Try doing a searchs for "homeschool groups (your county or city name)" As there are homeschoolers in every state of the union, you'll almost certainly find some close by. If for some reason you don't find anyone locally, you can still find support online through any number of Yahoo homeschooling groups.

As you look for homeschooling families locally, don't be afraid to approach parents that you see out and about during regular school hours. Most homeschooling parents are used to being asked why their children aren't in school anyway!. They won't be offended, and asking questions is a wonderful way to find other homeschoolers, not to mention just meeting new acquaintances. Chances are very good that you may find there are more homeschoolers in your area than you first thought.

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Great resources and answers to your homeschooling questions - pick up The Complete Homeschool Guide at: http://www.CompleteHomeschoolGuide.com

Best Home Schooling Resources - An Introduction

Statistical records suggest that home schooling has gained a lot of popularity since past few years. It is likely that you are one among several parents interested in home schooling. There are a few information resources,considered as the best home schooling resources. You will certainly find them useful.

The one great benefit of providing home schooling to your children is the amount of quality time you will able to spend with them. Just remember that it is a time that you can never get back, which makes it all the more vital benefit.

Another benefit of getting a good home schooling resource is that your desire to care about your children will be prominently registered in their mind. Your children will realize that you are doing everything possible to ensure happiness for them.

A search on the internet will get you links to some useful websites about home schooling. One of the better ones is a website about the Teach at Home Company. It is full of home schooling information, including subjects such as lessons, money, software, supplies and materials, homework helpers, books and video, and more.

Another good source is The Home school Company. This company claims that home schooling provided by them is great for a number of reasons, like

*their learning style will be identified

*all material will be presented in a format that honors their style

*each child will be encouraged to follow his or her interests

*each child will be honored as an individual

*each child will be encouraged to play and be a kid.

Then there is one more by the name Time 4 Learning, which offers a mix and match of activities. It makes a valid point about how important choosing the right home school material is for your children to make the most of home schooling.

It is time for you to get started and begin teaching your children from home, once you have decided about the best home schooling resource for your child.

Author Info:

Laxmi Keshav does research in many topics. Get started now, visit here - homeschooling versus public schooling and chrisitian schools international home schooling

Home Schooling Reflections

Coming to the end of our 8th year of home schooling causes me to look back with reflection. How are we doing, how have we done, and would I have done anything differently? These are the questions I ask myself.

I think we are doing fine. As a matter of fact I think we are doing great! But we are not the same as when we started. We have changed over the years. I think most home schoolers would agree.

It is the nature of home schooling.

If I were to do something differently I would have started from the beginning. Both of my girls went to public school for kindergarten and first grade. That is a precious time. A time that can be spend exploring nature, planting gardens, watching birds, visiting zoos and museums, visiting libraries and curling up with books, cooking with Mom, and doing craft projects. Do these things and you've got it covered. There's no need to have a strict schedule, sit at a desk all day and then have to come home with homework!

If I were to do something differently I would not have used a Charter School. Tracking every assignment and staying on schedule even when Egypt calls for more time than a week is not what home schooling is suppose to be about.

Home schooling is about learning at your own pace in your own way. If you start reading at 5 great, if you're not reading until you're 8 then that's okay too. If you can't write paragraphs in the 2nd grade who cares? And please don't sweat spelling; it really does come with time...with or without a spelling program.

If I were to do something differently I would not have done school at home.

Many of us start out doing "school at home". We make it the way we remember it to have been. That usually doesn't last long.

Now this is all fine and good, but I must remember not to be too hard on myself. I probably had to go through the steps I went through in order to get to where I am today.
I needed to see that public school was not right for our family and I needed the security blanket feeling of a charter school when I started home schooling. Life is about growing and growing is a process and we have to go through all the steps.

So why am I even writing this article? Well two reasons. Maybe you are thinking of home schooling, but not sure you can. Maybe reading about my experiences will give you the strength to skip some of the steps along the way. Or maybe you, like me wish you had done some things differently. I needed to remind you and myself that the path we took is the path we had to take and that it really is okay.

Author Info:

Linda Tyler a home schooling mom in San Diego, CA. Please visit my home schooling how to web site. How to get started, how to choose curriculum and how to save money.

http://www.home-education-works.com

Home Schooling Math - Why You Can Teach Math

Math is one subject that scares a lot of home schooling parents, especially as their children get older. Usually this is because the parents didn't do well in math when they were in school.

The main problem with math, is that math is a very "sequential" subject. The new material always depends heavily on what you were taught before. If you have a problem (i.e. if you miss a few things because of sickness, a bad teacher, or other problems in a particular school year), you have to go back and "fix" the problem, or you will have difficulty understanding things after that point.

If this happened to you, even only a few times during all the years you were in school, the chances of you having done well in math, are very low.

Many people have a problem at some point, in school. Then they end up trying to learn the previous material and the current material at the same time. Normally this means they learn it more poorly. They struggle a lot with it, and they don't learn the current material fully. Then the next material is difficult, too. Then they conclude they are poor at math.

In my family, when someone had a problem with math at school, they were helped at home until they got caught up. We all got very good at math, and this is why. It was also because of the effectiveness of one-on-one tutoring, just like when we are home schooling our children.

Also, having helped adults who were "supposedly poor" at math, I know that their ability is usually not the problem. They just were not taught every thing they needed, to do it well.

Just because you found math difficult at school, doesn't mean you can't teach math to your children. And if you are starting off with the lower grades, you probably know most of that math by now, anyway. Get good materials, and learn the few details you missed, as you go through it with your child (also, go over it the day before you teach it, and you should be fine).

And, check out our home school math teaching tips, on our site, listed below. Many of these tips are not even used in schools yet (to be fair to teachers, some of these tips would be more difficult to implement in a classroom environment, with lots of children in a big class, but home schoolers don't have that limitation).

Combine these tips with a good curriculum, lots of determination from you, lots of love, and getting the occasional outside help when you need it, and you will build a great math foundation in your child, that will serve them well, as they advance to more challenging math, and through out their adult life.

You may also want to read "If You Did Poorly in Math," on our site, listed below.

Author Info:

Jim McGinn has many more home schooling articles on his site, here:
http://www.homeschool-guide.com and make sure you sign up to receive his free home school tip each week by e-mail, here: http://www.homeschool-guide.com/hs-tips-request.php

Jim McGinn is a home schooling dad. He is the primary home schooling parent in his family, and has been home schooling formally for 7 years. Before that, he owned and ran a computer school for senior citizens, for over 10 years, where he learned a great deal about teaching from the most experienced people alive.

What You Can Uncover From Homeschool Curriculum Reviews

There are a wide variety of reasons why parents choose to homeschool. More and more children are being educated at home.

What is the reason for this increasing number of homeschool? It varies from family to family. But you'll find that there are usually three major reasons why parents make the decision to homeschool their children.

I've been reading lots of different homeschool curriculum reviews. What I found is that the biggest reason parents take their children out of public school is because the system is not giving their children a quality education.

The public education system of America is struggling to give our children an adequate education. Much of this struggling is a result of out-of-date textbooks, inferior equipment, and unfit buildings.

When parents decide to homeschool their children, they have hands-on control over what kind of education their children will get.

By reading homeschool curriculum reviews, I also learned the second reason why people choose to homeschool: They want to control the influences their children are exposed to.

This is often based on religious preference, though not always. But in any case, the homeschooling environment gives your child the best chance to learn values important to the family. Families are also able to decide to when their child is ready for certain information.

Public schools are known to not encourage good disciplinary measures. Because of this, kids know they can get away with a lot: Students are known to disrupt and sabotage classes, showing complete disregard for teachers and the learning of their peers.

Discipline is one of the most important components in a homeschool environment.

If you read homeschool curriculum reviews, you'll learn a third reason why parents teach their kids at home: Safety. Just watching the news or reading the paper illustrates that violence is a common problem in the school system.

This problem is not getting any better. Increasingly, the acts of violence are becoming more and more deadly. The Columbine High School shooting isn't an isolated case: There have been other firearm-related incidents around the nation.

Schooling your children at home gives them a safe learning environment, whereas at school they are at great risk for harm.

There were also some disadvantages I read about when going over homeschool curriculum reviews. Some of these disadvantages include how the state decides to get involved when you decide to educate your children at home.

There are some states that require all homeschooling parents to be certified teachers. They also require that the children learn using state-approved materials.

Sometimes parents are afraid that by homeschooling their children, they might block from them athletic and musical opportunities.

Socialization is one of the most commonly voiced fears. People are often afraid that children will lack social skills if they don't interact with peers.

There are obviously ways to work around these disadvantages. Still, you'll want to weigh the pros and cons that are revealed in homeschooling curriculum reviews, and especially learn what your state requires.

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Discover How to Raise Your Child to Be a True Leader with Our Classical Christian-based Leadership Program. Great for Homeschoolers and Other Parents Who Want to Make Sure their Child Gets the Best Leadership Training Possible.

Home Schooling Is It For Your Family?

Almost 1.1 million children were home schooled in 2005, according to the National Center For Education statistics, At one time, homeschooling was something radical, similar to a declaration of independence. Conservative Christians first advocated the idea of homeschooling in 1980s and had it legalized in every state.

Today, the typical home schooler is not motivated by religion. The fact is parents are fed up with public school systems. They see the schools as places where too much learning is compulsory and superficial. Parents also have concerns about the negative and sometimes dangerous school environment, which has problems that range from abuse to drugs to unsavory peer pressure.

The homeschooling advocates of today represent a mix of people from all walks of life. They come from all religious and regional borders with the goal of providing productive and meaningful education to their children. They want their children to learn in ways that strengthen family bonds as well.

Modern homeschooling families are committed to the sanctity of childhood. Children are the primary focus for these families. Many feel that homeschooling lets them raise their children in a more natural and nurturing way. Public schools make these parents nervous, and they believe their children could be come anxious or mean by attending them. The children who receive homeschooling are protected from such negative influences until they are of an age to handle them.

The whole family is involved with modern homeschooling. The practice has a role for everyone. Parents bond with their children, and all experiences can become educational ones. Both mothers and fathers know exactly what their children are doing during homeschooling periods, and they have more control over the type of moral and religious values that impact the children. With homeschooling, even a simple act like watching a movie can become a learning activity. Things like going to the library become educational and recreational alike.

A family that is involved with homeschooling is generally dependent upon the income of a single 'breadwinner' who brings in the money. This fact tends to bring family members closer together because everyone in the family is involved with the process of saving money.

One of the advantages of homeschooling is that one parent is always at home to supervise the children, and to care for and nurture them with love. Every member of the family is involved with the activity of homeschooling, and there is no time for boredom.

There may be problems from time to time, and parents may feel moments of self-doubt and misgiving, but homeschooling families have the satisfaction of knowing that they are always there for each other. Homeschooling represents a very rich experience for the family.

Author Info:

To find more advise about home schooling visit http://family-tips.com

Tips For A Kindergarten Homeschooling Curriculum

Do you want to create a rewarding and interactive homeschool curriculum for your child? Is this your child's first year in school? Are you interested in creating a positive homeschooled educational experience for your kindergarten student? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you will benefit from the information listed here. You will be introduced to what you need to know about an effective curriculum for having your kindergarten student homeschooled.

When creating a homeschool curriculum for the kindergarten student, it is important to understand that it all starts and ends with you. It is important for you to tailor the home-schooling lesson plans to match the interest level, and maturity of the child. Children who are in kindergarten must have a lot of interaction. It is also important for the homeschool curriculum to have plenty of room for play and creativity. These three elements - interaction, play, and creativity are the components to success when it comes to curriculums for kindergarten homeschooling.

Kindergarten Studies

We all remember our days in kindergarten. This is one of the most important years of school that your student will take part in. Many ideas, skills, and lessons are taught during kindergarten that will help shape the success that your student experiences in other grade levels. When creating a successful curriculum for kindergarten homeschooling, you must include information from a variety of subjects. Being similar to more traditional school's curriculum these homeschoolers subjects include art, social studies, music, science, geography, home life, writing, reading, activities, physical education, and more.

Creative Implementation

There are a number of creative measures that you can use while teaching your homeschool student that is in kindergarten. Math manipulatives, such as shapes, play money, and similar items can be used to reinforce basic math skills. Implementing the use of foam letters to reinforce tactile learning in language development can be a fun and interactive teaching method. Purchasing a world globe that talks and interacts with the child is a great creative implementation of teaching geography skills. Purchasing pictures that can be painted by the child is a great way to spark creativity.

Curriculum Goals

When creating a curriculum for kindergarten homeschooling, it is absolutely essential to have a set standard, or a set of curriculum goals in mind. The best way to create these curriculum goals is to find out the state standard as far as what a kindergarten graduate should know. Once you have discovered this standard, raise the bar a bit. This will ensure that the transition from kindergarten to first grade is a smooth one for your student. In addition to curriculum goals on academics, there are many life skills that should be implemented during this year of school.

Conclusion

Creating a successful curriculum for kindergarten homeschool can be a challenging task, but with the proper amount of research and consideration to the matter, it can be easily done. The main thing to remember when teaching a kindergarten student at home is that it should be fun and interactive. This will allow the child to keep a positive perspective on the educational process, and it will allow you to complete the goals that you have in mind. These components will ensure that the curriculum for kindergarten homeschooling is a success.

Author Info:

Terry Graves discusses How To Home School so you can understand it. Learn how home schooling works. To receive more information visit the How To Home School website.

Questions to Ask Your Personal Tutor

Is your child having difficulty coping with school? Are you looking for a way to improve his grades? Even if you did want to tutor your child yourself, chances are you may not have as much time on your hands. One of the best options to help out your child with school as well as you with your busy schedule as a parent is to hire a home tutor for your child. Personal tutors or private tutors have been proven to be effective in helping kids improve on their school work, as well as helping parents monitor the progress of their children.

Before you start hiring a personal tutor for your child, here is a quick list of questions you need to ask or check with your tutor of choice. Because children have different learning needs, it is imperative to clarify these details with your private tutor. These questions will help you gauge the skill and capabilities of your tutor, so you and your child can gain maximum benefits from private tuition.

1. What educational background do you have? - Whether you are hiring a high school student, college student, or a graduate, this helps you know what level of knowledge your tutor has. Inquire about specialties in subjects, or major courses taken in college.

2. Have you had prior experience tutoring? - Though it is always a plus to get an experienced tutor, most parents do not see this as the only criteria for choosing. Sometimes fresh graduates or newbies who are zealous, reliable, and who want to try out jobs as personal tutors can work just as effectively as seasoned ones.

3. What tutoring method do you employ? - Not all home tutors work in the same manner. It is good to know if your personal tutor uses various forms of media like books, magazines, the internet, and others as part of his teaching routine. Variety is effective in helping children grasp information faster, as well as to keep their interest in the task at hand.

4. What is your schedule? - Perhaps one of the most important points to clarify with your private tutor. Specify how many times a week you wish to have your child tutored, and what times your child is available to start the private tuition. Along with this question comes the per hour rate and payment terms.

5. How do you deal with a difficult child? - There are instances wherein a tutee is non-receptive to the assistance given by his or her personal tutors. A child may be too shy, is aggravated by the added school load, or simply does not want to participate. In this case, ask you tutor how he deals with such tutoring obstacles. It is ideal to choose a tutor that is firm but at the same time understanding about your child's personality and academic needs.

These are only some of the questions you can ask with your tutor. Don't hesitate to make everything clear with your home tutor, so you can both be sure that your child will be well-aided towards a better academic performance in school.

Author Info:

You can learn more on how to get a home tutor, personal tutor or private tutor when you visit UK Tutors.

Home School Curriculum - Should I Buy a Packaged Curriculum?

There are many home school curriculum's available and sometimes it can be hard to know which one to choose or whether to choose one at all. Here are some features of ready-made curriculum that you should consider before buying:

1. You may tend to spend more time on desk work and not feel the freedom to take advantage of home school support group activities, outdoor projects, or community activities.

2. Packaged curriculum tends to be expensive and leave you with less money for field trips or other supplies you might want to purchase.

3. You may tend to keep using the curriculum even if it is not working because you spent the money to purchase it.

4. Some packaged curriculum requires a great deal of teacher preparation and reading through manuals before you are able to teach the material.

5. There is a higher rate of burnout on homeschooling when people purchase a ready-made curriculum. It may cause you to grow weary of the preparation and your child to grow weary of filling in workbook pages and not engage his curiosity.

6. Packaged curriculum tends to be one-size-fits-all and is based on the average student. If your child is advanced or delayed, you may be disappointed with your purchase.

Packaged curriculums were originally designed for private school classrooms, but they do have their place in some home schools. If the parent and child enjoy structure and advanced learning, then a packaged curriculum could work for them. Many people adapt the curriculum to fit their needs and goals and some follow it exactly and have success. Once you assess your goals for homeschooling and take into consideration your child's learning style, you will be able to make an informed decision on what you need to purchase for homeschooling.

Author Info:

For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report "How to Homeschool using the Best Resources" at http://www.homeschool-how-to.com Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.

Teaching Sounds in Reading - Uncover Some of the Most Successful Methods in Teaching a Child to Read

In a previous article I covered the pre-reading activities and skills needed as a first step in teaching a child to read. The second step in the reading process is teaching the letter sounds to your child. This step is the foundation of all reading and should be emphasized.

Keep in mind that a child doesn't have to know the letter names before he is taught the letter sounds. In some children teaching the letter names first will produce greater confusion because the letter names are different from the letter sounds. You will have the most success when you teach the sounds if you have a multi-sensory approach that includes writing the letters, seeing the letters, and saying the letters.

Make sure each sound is said in a quick short manner which involves clipping the sound (you can have your child use a scissors like motion after saying each sound to remind them that the sound cuts off). To teach the letter sounds, you can use:

-A sand tray where the child writes the letters in the sand while saying the sound

-Flashcards without a picture to make sure your child is actually learning the sound of the letter and not the picture

-Glue letters or sandpaper letters where a child traces the letter while saying the sound

-Skywriting where a child writes the letter in the air while saying the sound

-Table writing where a child writes the letter on a table while saying the sound

-Walking around a letter outlined on the floor while saying the sound

-Forming the letter with the body while saying the sound

-Any other activity that will combine having the child saying the letter while writing it and visually seeing it or experiencing it through movement

Remember that the fastest way to teach letter sounds is by combining a multi-sensory approach so that your child is speaking, writing, reading, and spelling all at the same time. This type of approach will ensure that children with different learning styles will all learn the sounds equally well.

There is a method of teaching reading that encourages having the child initially learn all of the sounds each letter makes, as opposed to just learning one sound per letter. If you use this method, you would teach a child that the letter a has three sounds (a as in hat, a as in made, and ah as in water). The idea behind this method is that you give the child all the tools they need to crack the reading code from the very beginning instead of waiting. Once you teach all 26 individual letters, you would go on to teach the rest of the 70 written sounds (phonograms) in the English language. I personally prefer this method and have been very successful using it.

Teaching the letter sounds can be a fairly straightforward and pleasurable task if you remember to use all of a child's senses in the learning process while using a method that presents the sounds in a logical way. By teaching the letter sounds to your child, you'll be opening up a world of many possibilities.

Author Info:

Isa Skrobola received her teaching degree at the University of Michigan. She has taught in various settings and has studied the best methods of education for over 10 years. She is currently homeschooling her six children, and wants to offer you more free information about reading fluency at http://www.childfluency.com

Use Historic Locations To Learn Conceptual Social Studies

I was thinking about Walt Whitman as Steven and I walked along the red sand road to the Rose Bud Hill Pioneer Settlement. This tree lined forest lane was our road less traveled as Steven started a new adventure as an independently schooled kid. Steven was running ahead checking out all the informative signs along the trail. This was his first day as an independent learner. I wanted him to realize that he could learn easily so I set up this little trip to the Rose Bud Hill historic settlement.

Being a typical 14 year old he didn't want to look like a geek carrying a notebook. To tell you the truth I wouldn't have done it either so we took a digital camera instead. Don't make a kid feel embarassed. The fact is that you can do as much or more with a digital camera than you can with a notebook. He took an absurd number of pictures but in the process he documented everything there was to document. He photographed the information signs along with anything else that caught his attention so they could be placed in a PowerPoint. Make use of technology. Remember we are dealing with a species we might called technokids. A 14 year old has never lived without cell phones. There is no reason to take copious notes when photographs can illustrate everything.

We walked a few hundred more feet when I was almost scared to death. Suddenly a deer jumped up out of the bushes. I reacted as if it was bigfoot. But what a beautiful animal. After I realized I wasn't going to be Bigfoots lunch I kept thinking about food. "Steven, what could that animal be used for by the people who lived here?" He immediately said "you can eat it". "What else can you do with it?" He thought for a minute and then said "you can make clothes with the skin." Then he decided that you could dry the meat for the winter.

Then we heard a furious commotion in a tree. We looked up to see several squirrels jumping from limb to limb in the top of a huge Red Oak. He ran over to the base of the enormous tree. He bent over backwards trying to look at what was creating the problem in the treetop. A loud chattering sound could be heard. Then I heard him yell squirrels. Look they're fighting. I asked, "can you eat squirrels." He made a horrible face while saying I guess so. "Yes, you can", I said. Lets see what you've learned so far. This particular forest can provide two things you need to succeed in making a settlement; food and clothing. He ran over and took a picture of the tracks left by the deer. Without really trying Steven had learned that sources of food had to be in place for settlements to work.

He kept taking pictures and carefully photographed all the explanatory markers. Soon he yelled John come here. I walked over as fast as my arthritic knees would carry me and he said look at this. He pointed me to a sign that explained the Sassafras plant. The sign explained that he could create tea from the roots. I told him that I had drunk Sassafras tea as a child. Steven wanted to know what it tasted like. I told him it was kind of like root beer. So we had found more food. But the more important thing is that he was learning these concepts with no effort while having fun in a relaxed, enriching environment. He was deeply, intrinsically motivated to learn. He soon came up with the idea that you could actually make a meal from the forest.

Finally we made it to Rosebud Hill. We stood at the entrance to the peaceful farmstead looking at the log buildings. Steven walked first to a one room cabin. The cabin had a rope bed on one side and a table. Over the table was a hanging candle holder. There was a log stove that would have provided heat and a way to cook. The walls of the cabin were chinked with a mixture of mud and pine straw. I asked where did they get the materials to build this cabin? Steven thought about it for a moment then said well, duh, from the forest. "Exactly", I said, "that's another thing that has to exist for people to survive; building materials for shelter". We walked out of the cabin over to the fenced garden where we could see the rich soil. Various greens were growing along with other winter crops. Then on to the chicken yard, the pig pen, the outhouse and, finally, the main house of the farm which consisted of two rooms. The large room was the center of all the family life; eating, socializing, sleeping along with protection from the elements. The second room housed another rope bed for the parents of the family. After we examined all the features of the demonstration farm we walked behind the homestead to the Akokisa indian village.

As we walked through the village we talked about the need for people to trade with each other. We also talked about the need for people to establish mutually beneficial relationships to survive. Steven brought up the idea that the indians probably helped the settlers by teaching them ways to live in the forest. "True enough, I said, "and they also probably traded with them." Steven said "I bet that is another reason people settle somewhere." We sat down on a log. "Let's go over some things. What do we know now about why groups settle at a location?" Steven thought for a while then said "well they had to have food. They had to have material for shelter. They had to have somewhere to trade for things they wanted to use. But, don't they need water?" I said "well, let's see what they had for water." So we walked down a trail that led us to beautiful Spring Creek.

More pictures were taken along the way. When we got to the creek Steven realized another important reason for settling here. Not only was there water but he saw a pontoon boat in the creek. He said "they could travel on this couldn't they?". Without opening a book, hearing a lecture or doing a google search he had realized that there was a need for transportation. Looking at a map posted there we found that Spring Creek drains into the San Jacinto River. Then the San Jacinto River drains into the Gulf of Mexico where, at least hypothetically, the whole world could be reached from the Rose Bud Hill settlement.

Later that day after we arrived back at the house we sat down to debrief. "Ok, I asked, what can you say about why settlements are placed in particular locations?" Steven spent the next ten minutes telling me that there had to be natural resources to provide food and shelter. He talked about the need for adequate water. Another quality of an area he mentioned was easy transportation to other locations. And finally he talked about the ability to trade with other people. But that wasn't all he talked about. He mentioned having good soil to grow food. he told about the need for animal resources to provide clothing and meat. But then he surprised me a bit when he talked about the politics that had to work between the population of native people and the settlers. From there we talked about how relationships are established between groups of people. I found that I was able to motivate him to make a list of things to study as an extension of what he had learned. He wanted to do a study of the plant and animal biology of Jones Park. That evening I found him looking up more local indian populations on the computer.

A couple of weeks past. I walked past his table where he was working. As I passed I casually asked him "what kinds of things have to exist for a human settlement to exist". He thought for a minute then said "it's like Rosebud Hill. You have to have some food, some water, transportation, trade, materials to make shelter and you have to be able to get along with the other people who live there". The novelty of the way he was taught those concepts burned them into his brain with no effort.

Don't ever be afraid to abandon the books for the real world. Just get out there. Look around you. Everyone lives in a place where there were natural resources, trade opportunities, transportation to other places available and shelter when your city was established. Get out into your community with your kids. Show them your world and why people came to live there. Keep in mind that local historical demonstration parks are nothing less than time machines. They provide a lens directly to the lives of the original people who came to live in your world. They teach through direct contact with all the senses of a child. They show through true experiential learning why every city and community in the world exists. Get out there in the world. Rescue your kid from the four, square walls of a classroom. Move on to the future of learning. Take your child on a time machine to see why your present world exists. The whole world is waiting to teach your child.

Author Info:

John McGeough is a professional teacher, change agent, and child advocate since 1973. John has had the career of a renaissance man. He has been a professional trumpet player, a professional conductor, a successful music instructor, a biology teacher, an outrageously successful middle school music and science teacher. He is now a youth pastor serving children of all types from his ministry. He is committed to making the world a better place for children from all backgrounds. John believes that the era of mass education is dead. It just hasn't laid down yet. John believes in the all American concept of the independent American responsible for himself, making decisions for himself without the help of pervasive government interference.

How To Choose A Good Tutor For Your Child?

If your child is not faring well in school and you need to get him a home tutor, you need to take your time to find the right person for him. Choosing the right home tutor for your child is very important if you want the tuition to be effective. There are things that you need to take into consideration when looking for a home tutor. Let me share with you some guidelines that you should follow:

A good home tutor must know how to interact effectively with your child. He is someone that your child feels comfortable with and can encourage him or her to work hard. A good home tutor need not be the one who has good educational background and highly recommended by a tuition agency. Yes, these aspects are important but they are not everything. To be able to communicate effectively and bring the best out of your child is something that a good tutor must possess.

When you hire a tutor to teach your child, your objective is to expect the tutor to impart his or her knowledge to your child so that your child can pick up the subject that he or she has problem with. Therefore, a good tutor must be able to communicate clearly to your child and make sure that your child picks up what he or she is teaching.

You should also look for a professional and reliable home tutor. Punctuality, patience, responsibility and dedication are important aspects that a good home tutor must have. If you can find a reliable tutor, you can expect good returns from your effort.

However, sometimes it is very difficult to determine whether a tutor possesses the qualifications and the characteristic aspects that you are looking for. To know a tutor's qualifications, you should ask for references and qualification papers. With these documents, you will be able to know whether he or she is qualified enough to teach.

To find out whether a tutor is reliable, there are 2 methods. One is to talk to your child and ask him to express his likes and dislikes towards the tutor. Second method is to physically keep an eye on the tuition session. Overtime, you should be able to know whether the tutor that you have appointed is a reliable and trustworthy person.

Sometimes, to get a good tutor is not easy. There will be times you need to get rid of poor tutor before you can find a quality one. Just do a bit of research and get involved with the selection process. Once you see a tutor is not performing to your expectation, do not hesitate to fire him or her. When the bad one does not leave, the good one will never arrive.

Author Info:

Find professional home tuition services from the website below:

Click Here --> Home Tuition services in Singapore.

Feel free to publish this article on your website, or send it to your friends, as long as you keep the resource box and the content of the article intact.

Homeschooling - Do You Have What it Takes?

Many parents who are thinking about homeschooling wonder whether they have what it takes to homeschool their children. While you don't need all these qualities to be a successful home schooler here are some qualities to consider when making the decision to home school:

1. Do you love books on a wide variety of subjects? Can you get interested in a subject and find the information you need in a book?

2. Are you eager to learn and have a sense of wonder when you discover a new fact or concept? Can you take a walk and enjoy your surroundings? Can you look at the world around you and enjoy learning about what you see?

3. Are you flexible? Can you get interrupted without being totally annoyed? Can you change your plans for the day if needed?

4. Do you enjoy spending time with your children? Do you enjoy reading to them and learning about what they are interested in?

5. Are you determined to follow through when you set a goal? Can you focus on a goal and have the confidence to do what needs to be done to see the goal accomplished?

6. Are you willing to change what isn't working when you find that your original plan didn't turn out like you thought it would?

You know yourself and your children better than anyone. Homeschooling can feel like moving into uncharted waters, but then parenting can feel like that too. You know your children's interests and how they learn best. When you homeschool you have to trust your instinct to some extent too. If you feel that you are supposed to homeschool, then I encourage you to go for it. There are many support groups and fellow homeschoolers that can help you along the journey if you get stuck.

Author Info:

For more tips on homeschooling, grab your free report "How to Homeschool using the Best Resources" at http://www.homeschool-how-to.com Heidi Johnson specializes in helping families find resources to simplify and improve their lives.

Florida Online Driving Courses - The Ultimate Online Solution to Clear Your Traffic Tickets

Florida approved traffic school is sometimes required by a judge as sentence for a moving violation. It may also be possible to have a traffic ticket dismissed or points removed from your license by taking such a class. Luckily for Floridians, Florida is one state that has granted approval for courses such as these to be offered over the Internet. That means that you can take Florida online driving courses rather than going into a traditional classroom.

Florida online traffic school is far more convenient than the old-fashioned method of looking for a course and finding a location and date that will work for you, then showing up at the right time and day and sitting through a live instruction that may or may not be worth your time and money. With a course that is designed for online delivery, you've got the benefit of dozens of revisions and constant updates, so you know you're seeing the latest laws and regulations, and the latest conventional driving safety wisdom.

The other great thing about taking a Florida approved traffic school over the Internet is of course the convenience of scheduling. You don't need to be there at a specific time, or on a specific day. If something comes up, there's no need to reschedule. If you find yourself with a little extra time, you can log on and work on the course right there on the spot, no need to talk to anyone first or clear it with anyone. Just find a computer with web access and you're ready to jump back in. Some courses will even save your place within the material so that when you return you can go straight back to the page or section where you left off, and continue quickly and seamlessly.

Not all Florida online driving courses are created equal, however, nor are the providers who offer them. One important thing to look for is superior customer service. Customer service is one of those features that nobody thinks is particularly important until they suddenly find themselves needing it. With a web course, you might be online at any time, day or night, when you have a question that needs answering. There are providers who offer 24-hour live customer service, through a toll-free phone number or even a chat window, and those are the providers who understand the nature of web service and the fact that a class delivered over the Internet is always in session, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If they understand that aspect of customer service, you can be confident that they understand the other things unique to online education, such as keeping the student involved through interactive quizzes, animations, and videos rather than creating a book on a screen that doesn't encourage active participation in the material.

Author Info:

Mathew,
Is a promotional/hobby writer for Florida Traffic School When you are looking at taking a course in Florida to satisfy requirements for safe driving, whether through a court mandate or an insurance company, go online first, and go with the best online course once you're there.

Practical Homeschooling Tips - When In Need Of Receiving Home Schooling Tax Credits

Wouldn't we like to know about the available home schooling tax benefits? Home schooling lessons could turn out to be expensive. Traditional schoolteachers are liable to receive tax credits from federal governments but is it the same case for home schoolteachers? As usual, home schoolteachers it seems do not find the same favor with those making the laws. Let us find out whether home schoolteachers come in the tax credit category.

Teachers are liable to received tax benefits of $200 against federal taxes. That surely is a wonderful law, but only if you are teaching at a private or public school. But here's where the party ends, parents teaching their own children do not have access to similar benefits of tax credits. The law is clear in this context that you should be working in an accredited school (federal agencies check for either W2 or 1099) and this checks for unpaid, out of classroom supplies pocket expenses budget.

In case you do not have direct employment by a school and you are a home schoolteacher, and as it is in most cases that the school isn't an accredited one either. Then sorry to say but you come under any such category that qualifies to receive any such tax credits. Do not make any attempts to gain the same thinking you will go scoot free. The IRS is like a police and they know home schoolers are after this thing. It makes for you being caught and then you made to pay the taxes back.

For those people having kids with extra needs then such parents can take tax credits advantages. Those kids having some small leaning problems to not qualify, such tax credits are meant for those kids who have severe problems that make them highly dependent on others for even there basic needs. Children who cannot do without health care assistance, who need specialized caretaker teachers and who have other special needs come in this category.

There are few variations in the tax credits, in case your child suffers from muscular dystrophy, severe autism, downs syndrome or other disabilities like deafness or blindness, then application for tax credit should be granted. This should come, as a relief to most as providing these kids with proper care is a humongous task. Such credits are applicable for medical as well as home school cost as well.

Apart for these credits there are a few more that can be received from the state to a home school. For this you need to verify the tax code of your state before you apply for tax credits. One sure way to qualify for tax credit is by opening a 529 account for your child's post secondary education or college education.

North Carolina allows you to pay less in 529 contributions till $7500 for the financial year of 2007. Find out if the state you live has some other benefits as well. Credits are for parents as well as grandparents so do check for information. 529 accounts is not limited to just home schools but even grandparents or for that matter anyone having a child can have such an account.

If you look at the broad picture then home schools find it tough to receive tax credits. Of it all very small sum is there to get so be sure to take the guidance of a professional to secure your tax credits.

Author Info:

Download the best home school curriculum for your kids and know the secrets of getting tax credit for your homeschooling affair when you visit http://www.homeschoolingfordummy.com

Is Online Homeschooling The Future of Homeschool?

Online homeschooling programs are great ways of making sure that you child is learning the necessities. One of the greatest reasons why parents choose to homeschool is due to the fact that the values that your child learns are directly learned from you.

It is also important to teach your child academically. Sometimes you may need a little bit of help doing this. Sometimes developing your own curriculum from scratch can be overwhelming and too time consuming. Online homeschooling programs can help you achieve this.

Online homeschooling programs offer well thought out and tested curriculum. This curriculum is not the same stuff taught in public schools. Even though some of the same subjects will be taught, such as Language Arts, Math, History, Geography, and Science, you can also get additional subjects from an online homeschooling program.

For example, if you want your child to learn about the Bible, you can find a program that incorporates Biblical applications to the lessons. You can also choose electives in online homeschooling programs. You can find college prep courses, or even a state's individual history class.

Online homeschooling programs provide a challenging course of study that your child needs to become a great thinker. That is one way in how they differ from regular public education. They also help a child use technology and develop skills that they will most likely need in the future.

Usually online homeschooling programs will provide you with a CD-ROM and the software training to make the educational experience wonderful. You can download all the software for the courses and make backups of your work. Most programs will also aid you in completing projects.

One great thing about online homeschooling is that you can adjust the lesson plan to meet the needs of your child. Or, you can find an online homeschooling program that works with your child's strengths and weaknesses. This is one of the great advantages of homeschooling.

Don't think that you have to do everything alone. There are some great companies that are providing online homeschooling programs that are beneficial to you and your children.

Author Info:

Discover How to Raise Your Child to Be a True Leader with Our Classical Christian-based Leadership Program. Great for Homeschoolers and Other Parents Who Want to Make Sure their Child Gets the Best Leadership Training Possible.

Flexible Home-Schooling Time

Some home-schooling models lend themselves better to flexible time than others. Traditional "school-at-home" is the worst, where the kids follow the same rigid structure and time periods that they do in traditional schools. Some children enjoy the predictability and structure I suppose, although I have yet to meet any of them. Please don't feel that you have to (or even should) follow that model. Even for kids in public schools doing independent learning programs, there should be nothing wrong with finishing up the day's assigned work in less than 5 hours. So much traditional schooling is busywork anyway and a hurry-up-and-wait mentality.

For every model except un-schooling, the below approach to a flexible home-school benefits both kids and working parent. Stop thinking in terms of 30 minutes for this, 45 minutes for that, 15 minutes for the other thing. If a child needs or wants to spend a longer time on a subject such as reading, then let them. Ask them oral questions if you want to test their comprehension, or have them tell you a story from the book. They should not have to write formal book reports on each book they read, talk about ruining the love of reading!

When it comes to math, if you have a child who is utterly bored at the concept then let them take 15 minutes a day. Why not? They turn off after 15 minutes anyway. This is one subject by the way that you should take time from work to help with. Short sharp bursts do the trick. I know that I am a math underachiever. I just don't get it. But by "helping" my son with his math in short bursts and distinct lessons, we both learned something!

And why do you have to teach the same subject every day? Unless you are in a lockstep charter school program, you don't!

Another way to do this is to change subject concentrations. For example, spend the first semester on reading classic children's books. The second semester, concentrate on ancient history. This works very well for kids who prefer to go more deeply into a subject, and you are still teaching them what they need to learn. You don't have to do it on such a lengthened schedule of course, but can do language arts three days a week and history or art or science two days a week. Whatever works best for your child and you - whatever is the most flexible - is what you should choose.

Another way to be flexible is to remember that you don't necessarily have to standing over them all the time, especially if your kids are older. If you are homeschooling your 7 year old and 9 year old and you're working full-time from home, that can be a challenge. Consider letting the 9 year old "play teacher" - she might surprise you! And remember too that sending your kids into the backyard to look for certain plants or bugs (gulp!) isn't a cop out, it's a science lesson.

If your kids are older and/or capable of teaching themselves then this will also make your full-time working life much easier. For example, my middle-school-aged son and I sit side by side on the couch with our computer keyboards on our lap. Any time he needs help I just need to glance at his computer screen or at the book he is reading and help him. We do this in our living room because we frankly prefer the room's size and light to the upstairs office. Oh well. It works for us! It will work for you too.

Author Info:

If you liked this article and want more information on how to work from home and home-school, then visit http://workfromhomeandhomeschool.com and get my free report "Saving Time and Money for Work-at-Home Parents."

Help! How Can I Convince My Husband to Let Me Home School the Kids?

I always knew I wanted to home school our children. When I was in high school, I babysat for a home schooling family, and they had such exciting projects going on. Later, when I was student teaching in university, I discovered a more important reason to home school. It simply wasn't possible to meet every child's needs in a classroom setting.

My husband, however, took some convincing. He hadn't had any exposure to home schooling families, and thought teaching our two kids at home would put too much responsibility on me.

We ended up putting our eldest child in a public school, but three years later, he was so unhappy, we were ready to try anything. We took him and his younger sister out of public school and tried schooling at home instead. It's made such a positive difference in our lives, we plan to educate both our children at home all the way through high school.

After home schooling for five years, my husband has become one of the strongest advocates for home education I know. In fact, when I feel frustrated and suggest that we consider public school again, he completely shuts me down. He sees what a difference this way of life has made in the lives of our children and our family.

Now, none of this is to say that I believe public education is not as good as home schooling. Teaching your children at home is not the answer for everyone. However, home schooling is the right choice for my family.

If you believe home schooling is the right choice for your family too, but your husband doesn't agree, there is no magic pill that can make him change his mind. I do, though, have some suggestions that may help.

1. Pray. One of my favorite Christian authors, Stormie Omartian, says in her book, Power of a Praying Wife, that before talking to your husband about anything, you should talk to God about your husband.

If you believe that God wants you to home school, spend time with God and ask Him to reveal that to your husband as well.

2. Get involved in your child's school right now. I had always been involved in our children's education, but when our son's problems became more serious, I volunteered in his classroom every week. I got along well with his teacher, and she was concerned about him too, so this arrangement worked very well.

I was able to see the classroom environment first-hand, and see how my son's behavior compared to the other students. Because I was in the classroom so frequently, I was able to explain to my husband what was happening, and where the problems lay. This helped him understand my desire to home school our children, and why I believed our son would do better in a home environment.

Volunteering in a classroom isn't always possible, but if you can, I recommend it. If you're thinking of home schooling, watching how your child functions in a classroom can help prepare you for what's ahead. And, if you're ultimately not able to educate your children at home, you're building important relationships with your children's teachers and showing your children how much you value their education.

3. Explain to your husband why you want to home school. Does your husband know why you want to home school? Or does he think your desire is a passing whim? Present your reasons and try to explain what's on your mind.

This is where I found volunteering in my son's classroom so helpful. I could explain to my husband what I observed in the classroom, and how home schooling could make a difference in our son's learning.

4. Explore other educational options. No matter how much you want to home school, it's important to remember that this approach to education is not for everyone. I've met several moms who insisted on home schooling their children, and a year later, realized it was the wrong choice for their family.

Home schooling is hard. Being unhappy with your current schooling arrangement is not a good enough reason to home school. Explore your other options as well before deciding home schooling is the only alternative that will work for you.

Consider private schools, online schools, or maybe even an after school tutoring program. If your husband doesn't agree to home school, perhaps he'll be more open to one of these options.

5. Find current research about home schooling. Gather facts about home schooling to show your husband. Not to shove in his face and prove your point, but so you can be prepared when he does ask questions.

Find out how local home schooled students perform on standardized tests; learn if they're admitted to your city's university (usually they are); look for groups you can join to meet other home schooling families, and for your children to make home schooled friends. Then, when your husband does ask questions about home schooling, you'll have all the answers you need at hand.

None of these suggestions will guarantee your husband will change his mind about home schooling. But they will help you communicate with your husband about both your desires for your children's education, and help you make educational choices that will work for your entire family.

Author Info:

Would you like to learn more about homeschooling? Visit http://www.WAHM-Articles.com to read articles written by real homeschooling parents about their own home school experiences.

K12 Virtual Education - Parent Teachers And "Fear" In The Teaching And Learning Process

Consider this:

"Free Children are not easily influenced; the absence of fear is the finest thing that can happen to a child."

A.S. Neill, (1992) Summerhill School, A New View Of Childhood, Penguin Books.

We are all afraid of something. Whether it is the dark, small spaces, falling in our dreams or the neighbor's dog! When faced with these our bodies can react to the perceived fear of the situation.

Authority or perceived authority is sometimes a huge fear provoker. Who remembers the fear of facing a teacher without the homework finished? Or the fear of a parent finding out you had not done so well in French as they might have expected. Inadvertently we bring this fear with us into adulthood. As adults we become the feared and oddly enough we almost feel "entitled" to repeat the process without thinking. We fail to think of the repercussions this type of "authority" had on us as people.

In the world of teaching and learning it is common to perceive the "teacher" as a position of authority. Parent - teacher meetings can often leave some parents in a bit of a tizzy. When teaching in the home this can tend to back fire - a lot! In one instant you are mum or dad and the next you are the teacher. Your past experience of both these roles will dictate the way you view your own role of authority in your child's life.

Fear is a part of life. The trick is to not let it drive us in the decisions we make. Especially decisions we make for those we love very much! Here are a few things you may want to avoid doing.

What to Avoid:

Avoid making fear-based choices in education for your student - this leaves you as a parent/teacher in a very vulnerable place. Teaching a program without being 100% that it is the best fit for your student leaves room for doubt by both parties! Fear of the alternatives should not be the only thing that drives your home program. Fear cannot sustain a balanced educational program.

Avoid making your students responsive to fear only. It may be very difficult to ignite intrinsic motivation if they are only triggered to participate through fear.

Avoid living with the fear that your student's natural intuition will uncover your weakness. It is often very powerful to share with our students that which we find difficult. This gives our learners an opportunity to offer their help and ideas. It also brings them closer to understanding we are all human.

Do not fear to be human. Your child's perception of your authority will not change if you show natural human frailty. This doesn't mean you have them running all over the place like wild animals.

Avoid letting the opinions of others affect your ability to prepare and teach your students in the way you believe best fits their needs. Our fear of what others think can interrupt the natural flow of creative ideas we may have. Opinions of onlookers are just that. As parents and 24hour caregivers we must own confidently decisions we make for our children.

Having said all that here are a few things you might consider doing to be sure you are staying conscious about where fear may be lurking in your program.

What to do!

As Arthur Costa shares in "Habits of Mind" (2000), it is important to share with your child the importance of persistence, thinking flexibly, managing impulsive behavior, using humor, listening and understanding with empathy, thinking, questioning, applying past knowledge to new situations and remaining open to continuous learning. Moving away from decisions made of fear, towards thinking solutions can ignite a lot of creativity and intrinsic motivation in your student.

Let your child know that he or she is loved and accepted. Behavior comes and goes. The true spirit of your child is a constant!

Celebrate all that makes your child unique. After a public outburst of truth from my rather vocal 4 year old a passerby quietly shared with me - "What appears to be obnoxious at 4 is rather attractive at 24!"

Choose a program where you believe you and your student can be at your best. Choosing a program out of fear of the alternatives can leave both you and your student feeling frustrated and lonely.

Always be open to continuous learning. Our students/children are changing everyday. A huge advantage of teaching at home is we are able to understand and make room for these changes. Our teaching can be most effective when it grows with the needs of the child.

Throw caution to the wind and fear out the window! There is less to be fearful of when we learn and grow together.

Author Info:

Margit Barreras

2Think2Learn.com

Let us help you discover the "magic bullet" that engages your student in learning. 2Think2Learn.com offers many helpful tools for parents who teach in the home. Our "Guest Virtual Classroom" contains lots of ideas that you can integrate into your home program. Come see us for interactive and innovative alternatives in teaching and learning!

Are Homeschool Textbooks Really the Best Option?

While homeschool textbooks may appear to be the best way to go, they are usually the most expensive and least flexible routes.

If you have homeschooled your children before, you know that you have immense resources available at your local library.

Not only can you have access to free books, you can usually also use the library's videos, CD's, audiotapes, and sometimes even software to help supplement your homeschooling experience.

If you are looking for other free education materials, there are great resources out there that go beyond the "boring" homeschool textbooks.

It is not that difficult to build a year's worth of social study's curriculum around quality television programs, such as: The History Channel, Discovery Channel, and A&E Network.

Some of the shows may not be appropriate to show youngsters, but many of them are quality educational material, especially shows that are part of the A&E Classroom, A&E Biography, and Assignment.

You can simply check the websites for these networks and/or series, and surprisingly, they offer free teacher guides and schedules for upcoming shows.

When you incorporate these shows into the historical literature you are reading, it is easy to create a quality education with no expense.

Plus, children find that this type of learning is exciting and interesting, compared to homeschool textbooks that can be dry.

The Internet is also another resource where you can find free educational materials or sites. It is important that you use discretion and make sure that these sites are indeed child-friendly.

You can even run Google searches together with your child on various topics of study, such as science, math, history, and literature.

You can often find sites that have interactive problem-solving games to help develop specific math concepts.

Instead of just using math homeschool textbooks, I decided to complement my son's math education with some of these games. That way, we didn't have to use a textbook everyday. Using the computer is usually fun for children and can be considered a reward for working hard earlier in the week.

In addition to resources at the library, on TV, or on the web, you can also find free samples of worksheets, workbook pages, and puzzles from educational sites before you decide to make any purchases.

You can visit these educational sites and download free material. You will want to try them out before you give them to your child, or before you purchase an entire workbook.

Before you make any kind of investment in homeschool textbooks, you want to make sure the participating company has some kind of guarantee.

If you are like most homeschooling families, you are living off of one income and have a few children that have different learning styles. That is why I like to try to find as much quality material I can for the least amount of money.

Author Info:

Unleash the power of a Leadership Education and join the Raise a Leader Revolution. Your child can be a True Leader and finally you don't have to worry about affording the best education for your child.

Making the Most of a Homeschool Convention

The homeschool convention is almost here! Are you ready?

Whether it is your first convention or your fifteenth, the annual homeschool convention can be an overwhelming event. With dozens of workshops, over 100 vendors, and thousands of new and used books, it can be a challenge to know what to do first. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your convention experience.

Before the Convention

Register

In order to maximize your time and money, start planning well before the day of the convention. Pre-registering online is amazingly convenient, and it will save valuable time when you arrive at convention. Members of the sponsoring organization often receive a generous discount on full registration, and pre-registering by the early-bird deadline can save even more. That is extra money to spend on something that will make your homeschooling easier!

Plan

First, know why you are going to convention. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to:

• Find out about homeschooling in general?

• Learn techniques for teaching toddlers or teens?

• Gain encouragement for educating your special-needs child?

• Get a hands-on preview of new curriculum?

• Stretch your dollars by buying used curriculum?

• Hear encouraging truths from veteran homeschoolers?

• Make a few dollars by selling your used books?

• Give back to your homeschool organization by volunteering for a few hours?

• Save shipping costs by purchasing your textbooks?

• Attend an inspiring graduation ceremony?

You can do all this and more at the convention if you plan your time wisely! If you spend time thinking through your goals for the coming year, and deciding what you need from the convention before you go, you are well on your way to making the most of this exciting weekend.

Make Your Lists

The sponsoring organization maintains a list of workshops and vendors on its website, and the preliminary workshop descriptions are usually included in the latest issue of the newsletter. Use these resources to plan your time at the convention. As you study the workshop schedule, you will begin to see workshops that you absolutely want to attend. Check them off on the preliminary program, and begin to prioritize.

Inevitably, there will be more than one workshop per session that you would like to attend. This is not a problem! Virtually all the workshops are recorded, and you may purchase tapes or CDs at convention and listen at your convenience later. This way, if you decide to spend all your time in the curriculum hall or the used book sale, you will not miss out on all the encouraging and informative workshops that are scheduled.

Plan for Children and Teens

While convention weekend is a wonderful opportunity for some special "couple time," the convention is family-friendly if you prefer to bring everyone. A glance at the program will reveal many workshops that are of special interest to teens. These teen-track workshops may include topics such as "Technology and Computers," "Creation vs. Evolution," "College Options," and many more.

Children ages 5-12 may have the opportunity to enroll in a special children's program, where they can enjoy skits, songs, stories, and crafts focused on the development of good character qualities. The children's program usually runs for the entire convention, except for meals, for which your children may join you to talk about all the things they've learned.

Read Ahead

If you are new to homeschooling, or are entering a new phase of home education, such as high school, you may want to do some reading before you arrive at the convention. You may wish to order books such as The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell, For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley, or 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. There are many other wonderful resources available, and whatever you read will help you prepare for the convention, as well as for the coming school year. Ask a veteran homeschooler for her recommendations, and she'll probably be happy to share some of her favorites.

Make a List

If you write your shopping list on a business size or 7x9" envelope, you will be able to place all your receipts in the envelope as you make purchases. You can jot notes about what you see on the back of the envelope, and keep a running total of what you spend on the inside of the flap. Just be careful not to lose your envelope!

At the Convention

When you arrive at the convention, you'll receive a program booklet and a bag of literature from vendors. The program will contain a map of the convention hall, speaker and graduate profiles, listing of vendors, and a final schedule of workshops. It pays to sit down for a few minutes to get acquainted with this valuable resource. First, check the workshops you want to attend and verify the time and location. Second, locate the bathrooms, concession stands, bag drops, and other conveniences, and locate the booths of vendors or speakers you particularly wish to visit. Now you are ready to plan your day!

As a point of courtesy, if you spend a lot of time with an author or vendor who patiently answers your questions, please remember that it would be very rude to go across the aisle to save a couple of dollars on the same curriculum from a vendor who has not given so generously of his or her time. Most authors and vendors are at the convention, not only because they truly want to help other homeschooling families, but also because they need to make a living.

If This Is Your First Convention

If this is your first convention and you are able to come more than one day (I highly recommend coming for the whole time, if at all possible), don't buy anything until the last few hours you are there. Use your first day, or first few hours, to attend the introductory workshop sessions offered for new homeschoolers, then browse the curriculum hall, picking up catalogs and brochures. If you know you have a bag full of information, and will be able to order anything you see later, after you have had time to make a careful decision, you will not feel pressured to decide too quickly on anything you see.

Take all the literature you have gathered back to your hotel, or out to lunch if you are there for only a day, and look through it. Focus on things that fit your needs now - elementary curriculum if you have young children, high school curriculum if you have teens. Get acquainted with some of the things that are available, so that when you return to the curriculum hall, you can go directly to the items that seem most interesting or useful to you. Write down questions you would like to ask different vendors, and do not forget that the homeschool organization probably has a table is staffed with veteran homeschoolers who would be happy to answer questions for you. Remember that you do not have to make any quick decisions, but that you may order virtually anything, including workshop tapes, after the convention.

If You Are A Veteran Homeschooler

If you have been homeschooling for years, but have not been to the convention in a while, prepare to be astonished and delighted by the amazing array of high-quality curriculum options that are available. You will find many resources for the high-school years, as well as a great deal of information on helping your student make the transition to college, the military, or a career. There are encouraging new books and resources, as well as workshops and vendors that can answer many of the questions you may have as your students grow older.

Veteran homeschoolers are probably also aware of the many opportunities available for volunteer service at the convention. The convention takes place only with the help of the many volunteers - both new and veteran homeschoolers - who donate a bit of their time to make it happen. You may choose to help in the exhibit hall, graduation, security, hospitality, registration, publicity, used curriculum sale, or as an office volunteer or speaker host. As a special thank-you, volunteers often receive special privileges such as first admission to the used curriculum shopping area, or a free workshop recording.

After the Convention

When you reach home after the convention, you will have much to digest. Make time to read the books and catalogs you bring home, and listen to the workshop tapes you have purchased. As you put all you have learned into practice, you will be thankful you took time to learn more about home education. Your new knowledge will help you experience joy in the journey!

Author Info:

Janice Campbell, author of Get a Jump Start on College! A Practical Guide for Teens, Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork, and the forthcoming Excellence in Literature series, has been writing and speaking in central Virginia since the late 1980's. She homeschooled her four sons from kindergarten into college, using the principles she now shares in her books, blog (http://www.Janice-Campbell.com), workshops, and her free e-newsletter. Sign up for it today at http://www.Everyday-Education.com

Scheduling Home School in the Summer Months

I have heard many moms say that one of the best things about getting back to school in the fall is getting back to a schedule. Even though the summer months are a time to loosen up our schedule, I have learned that we lose too much momentum if we throw out the schedule completely in the summer! My home runs in a much more orderly, peaceable way and we remain productive if we stick to a schedule during the summer months, even if it is less structured.

I do plan school for the summer months, but it is more in the form of mini family projects. Saving the things that I find too time consuming to incorporate into the regular school year for the summer months works well for us. Another reason I like a summer schedule is that it encourages my children to manage their time well on a consistent basis. I have also found that it is not profitable for my children to have too much free time. It seems that free time evolves into bickering, laziness and the typical "I'm bored!" Keeping a schedule tends to keep these problems in check.

If you have never scheduled summer before, or at all, here are some simple steps to planning and implementing a summer schedule:

1. Seek the Lord

Remember to go to the Lord in all things, even our schedule! Seeking Him in this will help us to gain perspective for our days and keep our priorities in order.

2. Get your husbands input

I encourage you to always seek your husbands input when scheduling. Many times my husband will mention something that he would like us to do that I never would have thought of. I would not have known about this if I didn't ask for his input! He also helps me keep reasonable goals and a reasonable perspective on our days. Since I have a tendency to want to do too much, I appreciate his help immensely with this.
This is also a great time to discuss areas of weaknesses in our children that we would like to help them overcome. The summer months allow more time to hone in on things in my children that need some additional training, and also allows us to spend more individual time together to study God's Word and grow spiritually. This is also a great time to review our school year, and I can share my struggles and victories with my husband and he gives me so much wisdom on how to practically solve my problems and encourages me to continue in the good things.

3. Ask yourself "How can I bless my husband with our summer?"

When summer comes, there are often additional chores around our home that need to be done. Don't leave chores for your husband because it is a "man's job", but seek to relieve his workload around the home by helping or even completing these jobs for him.
Again, ask your husband what he would like some help with. He may not want his toolbox organized by you, but he may need help with other projects! One example is our garbage. We do not have garbage pick up where we live, so on the weekends or sometimes during the week my husband has to load up the garbage and take it to the dump. One day I thought, why am I leaving this up to him? He really doesn't like taking care of it, especially after it has been sitting for a week! Now I am purposing to take a bag or two to the dump when I leave the house. Since the dump is only a few minutes down the road it is a simple chore that blesses my husband.

4. Brainstorm a list of things that you have been wanting to do with your children, your home and any other areas.

As a homeschooling mom, most of my day is taken up with school. I often don't have time for bigger home projects, and I find that I have to eliminate many things I would like to do so we can stay on track with our studies. The summer months are a great time to tackle those big (and little) projects that always seem to get pushed to the side during the school year. This summer, some of the things I would like to accomplish are:

Clean & organize basement

Set up the sewing room

Scrapbook with children

Rubber stamping and card making with the children

Embroidery projects with the girls

Painting the children's bedrooms

Hold a yard sale

Complete a bird unit study

Gardening and learning about harvest and preservation

I have also asked my children for some ideas for things they would like to do this summer. They have all kinds of things they would love to do with mommy! This allows us to complete fun projects and spend time together in a way that we do not get to do during the school year.

After you have this list, you can easily prioritize what you want to have done, and schedule them into your day. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish by doing this!

4. What are some routines in your school year you want to keep in the summer?

Keeping a morning routine helps us from getting into the Saturday morning attitude, where we lounge around, eat at no particular time, and the day goes by with nothing completed. While that works well on the Sabbath, it doesn't work well every day of the week! Our schedule will continue to include quiet time for my children to spend with the Lord, our family Bible reading and Scripture memory work. I also have afternoon and evening routines to keep us on track.

Just listing five things in order that you want done during these times can help keep your momentum through the day. The reason I do morning, afternoon and evening routines is because I noticed we had a tendency to follow the schedule at full pace in the morning but somewhere around 10 am we would begin lose sight of our day. By having these routines in place, it keeps us on track and provides some accountability to all of us. Also by keeping these routines the same all the time seems to make it easier to get back into the school year and I do not have to retrain the children each new school year.

Our morning routine looks something this:

1. Awake/Eat Breakfast

2. Get dressed

3. Brush Hair and teeth

4. Make bed

5. Clean bedroom

Our afternoon routine looks like this:

1. Wash hands before lunch

2. Help with lunch and eat

3. Clean up after lunch

4. Get ready for story time with mom

Our evening routine looks like this:

1. Family Devotions

2. Pick up anything around the house

that is yours and put away

3. Get pajamas on

4. Brush hair and teeth

5. Mom will tuck you in

Because these things never change, we find our children often do them by habit and without reminders, which was the goal for having these routines in the first place :)

5. Set some goals for you children and yourself

As I mentioned before, my husband and I often discuss areas of strength and weaknesses in our children. We try to take an area to focus on in each child and discuss how we can help them. We will pray over these areas and seek the Lord and the Word on how to help our children overcome this weakness. Depending on the ages of our children we will also include them in discussing this weakness and will set a plan for working on it together. Of course, this is good practice to do all year long, but in the summer we have more time because we do not have our regular school work in our day. It is best to fill that time with the Lord instead of activities that are of no eternal value.

I also find that I have more time to spend with the Lord in the summer. It is a good time for me to refresh spiritually and even work on my own areas of weakness through spending more time with Him.

To me, the summer is a great time to focus on organization in my home as well as reading more. I like to read books on educational methods, research and evaluate what worked and what didn't in the past year, search out curriculum, and find new resources to use in my schooling. For some reason during the school year, books about schooling are the last thing I want to read! But in the summer, I love to read as much as can to encourage and prepare me for the upcoming school year.

The summer can be a blessed time of refreshing and opportunity! I look forward to those warm sunny days, when we can grab our books and read outside, or head to the park for a picnic. A schedule doesn't restrict us from having fun, but rather creates time for more fun because we know each day the important things are still getting done. I can go to sleep at night with a feeling of accomplishment, and my husband can safely trust in us because he knows our days are planned and purposed.

6. Seek ways you can bless others with your time in the summer

Do you have friends or family that you do not get to visit with often? The summer months offer a great time to invite others over for lunch, or even to visit those you may not see often. Be careful that you do not fill your time with busyness outside the home, however, be creative in seeking to find ways that you can be a blessing to others with your extra time in the summer.

One way we have done this in our family is to have a visiting day every other week. We make a list of friends and family and plan a route to visit them. My children often make a card or draw a picture for the person we are visiting. We try to focus on those who are widowed, elderly, or needing encouragement.

Pray about this extra time that you have when school is on break in the summer, and ask the Lord to show you how to use this time wisely so that you can bless others. I am sure He will show you many things that your family can do.

Lastly, have fun and enjoy this short season of warm sunny days with your children! You can have a purposeful and fulfilling summer that will be enjoyable for all and avoid boredom with some time planning ahead.

Author Info:

Stephanie is a homeschooling mother of 3 and owns A High And Noble calling, a blog to encourage and inspire women in their noble callings as homemakers, wives and mothers. You can read articles, find resources, and inspiration for your high and noble calling at http://www.ahighandnoblecalling.com

Self-Directed Learning - The Seven Benefits of Designing Your Own Education

Taking the initiative to design your own education may be a foreign concept to us who live in a society that has accepted institutionalized education as the only means to acquire knowledge.

Nevertheless, self-directed learning has not lost its power to yield a high quality education that will not only bring joy and fulfillment, but also lead to a fruitful life that will benefit the student himself, and be a blessing to many others.

Self-directed learning is a very natural process. All of us are continually engaged in one self-directed activity or another.

It's undeniable. The human race was created to live a creative life. Whether it's on the computer, pursuing a hobby, sport, or even designing our home, we are constantly striving to increase our expertise in some area of our life.

Strangely enough though, most of us do this only in our free time. We separate our work from our passion. Our daily aim is to accomplish the requirements imposed by others, and in our free time we pursue the requirements of our heart.

It doesn't have to be that way. Your passion can become your career. You can be an expert in anything you want to if you learn to master the art of self-directed learning.

Self-directed learning has a lot of benefits. These are only seven of them:

• You choose the content. Contrary to a curriculum designed by experts, you can pick and choose what you are going to learn, and who you are going to learn from, according to your personal level of knowledge and unique preferences.

• You determine the schedule. You can adapt your learning process to your personal agenda, without depending on time schedules imposed by others.

• You learn with passion. Since you are pursuing the topic that has always burnt in your heart, there is no place for boredom. Your main occupation in life should be fun!

• Self-directed learning produces a deep sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. You are engaged in what you were created to do!

• Self-directed learning will eventually lead to a productive life. After a season of delving into a subject with passion, the fruit will start to show. You will have gained a level of expertise.

• At this point you will naturally develop entrepreneurial skills. Now that you are an expert in your field, others will look to you for help, and be willing to pay for it too!

• The inevitable step is financial freedom. Voilá, your passion has become your career!

Author Info:

I'd like to invite you to go for it! Visit http://www.Self-DirectedLearningForSuccess.com for tips and tools for creating and growing in your own learning process. Learn how to teach yourself in my FREE e-book: "The Power of Self-Directed Learning", and my FREE e-course: "Seven Steps to Consistently Change Your Life."

From Bettina Langerfeldt, who teaches people how to pursue their God-given gifts and talents by designing their own education with self-directed learning.

© 2008 Freedompioneer

Homeschool Statistics - Over 1 Million Homeschooled Kids in the US Alone!

The latest homeschool statistics show that over a million children in America are currently homeschooled. The popularity and success of home education is growing larger each year as the public school system experiences crowding, more violence, and a decrease in the education levels for students. It proves to parents that homeschooling is very important and might be an education choice to consider for the upcoming year.

Homeschool statistics indicate that children who are taught at home receive higher scores on their standardized tests than children who are taught through a public school. The point average for homeschoolers was, in some cases, almost 70 points higher than the national average for public school children. This is a positive indication that individual teaching time makes a difference as does a quiet environment to study in. In home discipline is also important in being able to study in a more controlled environment.

It takes less time to homeschool a child than it does for the child to go through a regular day in public school changing classes and doing extra activities. Homeschool statistics show students who are taught at home are more mature in their level of learning and socialization skills than those who are not. The studies also show a higher level in spiritual growth, cognitive skills, academic skills, and social skills.

It has been shown through homeschool statistics that religion is not a deciding factor in the decision to homeschool a child as it used to be. Many parents who are not religious have decided to homeschool their children simply because of how bad the public schools are becoming. The household income for homeschool families is about $50,000. With regards tot he budget, it only costs about $500 a year to home school one child. It could cost more to purchase uniforms, field trips, lunches, and gas to take a child to and from public school.

The parents who were included in the homeschool statistics stress that it is very important to teach children morals and values along with math, reading and the other core subjects. The entire point behind the innovative idea of homeschooling is to provide the child with a better means of learning and teaching environment. This is definitely not something public school instruction provides. While these statistics are important in showing the benefits of homeschooling, it is necessary for parents to get together to decide what is best for their children.

Author Info:

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