Assess and Evaluate
The end of the homeschool year is a good time to evaluate the past year and plan for the year ahead. You might be like us -- we often start each year with more plans than we can work into nine months!
We have high expectations for each year and might feel let-down if we don't accomplish everything we've planned. But don't fret about those things not accomplished! Just make note of them and work them into next year's plans, or try slipping some of them in during the summer.
Summer Catch-up
If you didn't get around to the study of the solar system in science this past year, don't fret. During the summer, visit the library and choose some nicely illustrated and informative books on the solar system. Read them together on lazy summer afternoons.
If possible, visit a planetarium. Or rent a video from your library on the sun and solar system. Pop some popcorn and sit down with your children to watch and discuss the video.
Get the family involved in making a mobile of the sun and the planets. Your children can invite their friends over to take part in the fun, too. Let them work on the project on the back porch or on a table where they'll have plenty of room to spread out their materials.
Do the same with a variety of topics and learning activities over the summer. But keep the activities fun and interesting, so that it doesn't seem like homeschooling!
Learning Ideas
For more ideas, see our Free Activities, Summer Activities, Articles, Daily Calendar Fun, and more on our Everything Homeschooling site at EverythingHomeschooling.com!
Happy summer!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Everything Homeschooling, Homeschool Help, & Love of Learning
I came across the 1st Edition of my Everything Homeschooling Book a while back. Someone had highlighted various passages with a yellow marker.
It was interesting to read the parts that "clicked" or made an impression on that reader. Here's just a few of the passages that she (or he) highlighted in my book:
* "Children are natural learners, and parents are natural teachers."
* "Homeschooling, however, is not 'school at home.' Rather, it is a lifestyle, a learning style, that is a natural part of each day."
* "Every child benefits from learning in a safe, caring, stimulating environment surrounded by those who truly love and value him. Never doubt that you are the best teacher your child could have."
* "Children are natural learners. Learning is an integral part of their lives, woven throughout the hours that make up each day. As they go about their normal lives, they encounter, gather, process, and grow from the information they naturally absorb. This is learning."
* A statement by former Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, was highlighted. He said: "I believe that all parents, indeed any adult, regardless of his or her station in life, or even their level of education, has the capacity and obligation to teach their children a love of learning."
These are just a few passages from the 1st Edition. The new 2nd Edition of my Everything Homeschooling Book was released in February this year. New chapters were added to the 2nd Edition: "Fun Learning Activities" and "Frugal Homeschooling Hints." Plus, updated homeschool resources and information are included in the new edition.
The new Everything Homeschooling Book also includes homeschool help, activities, and ideas for:
* Veteran homeschoolers
* New homeschoolers
* Single parents
* Two-career families
* Only children or multiple children
* Special-needs children
* Early-years learning at home
* Elementary-years homeschool
* Middle-years homeschool
* High-school homeschool and graduation
* College and career preparations
* Typical homeschool days, curriculum choices, record-keeping tips, and much more!
Visit our online homeschool site at EverythingHomeschooling.com for more information or to purchase the new 2nd Edition of my Everything Homeschooling Book.
Happy homeschooling!
It was interesting to read the parts that "clicked" or made an impression on that reader. Here's just a few of the passages that she (or he) highlighted in my book:
* "Children are natural learners, and parents are natural teachers."
* "Homeschooling, however, is not 'school at home.' Rather, it is a lifestyle, a learning style, that is a natural part of each day."
* "Every child benefits from learning in a safe, caring, stimulating environment surrounded by those who truly love and value him. Never doubt that you are the best teacher your child could have."
* "Children are natural learners. Learning is an integral part of their lives, woven throughout the hours that make up each day. As they go about their normal lives, they encounter, gather, process, and grow from the information they naturally absorb. This is learning."
* A statement by former Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, was highlighted. He said: "I believe that all parents, indeed any adult, regardless of his or her station in life, or even their level of education, has the capacity and obligation to teach their children a love of learning."
These are just a few passages from the 1st Edition. The new 2nd Edition of my Everything Homeschooling Book was released in February this year. New chapters were added to the 2nd Edition: "Fun Learning Activities" and "Frugal Homeschooling Hints." Plus, updated homeschool resources and information are included in the new edition.
The new Everything Homeschooling Book also includes homeschool help, activities, and ideas for:
* Veteran homeschoolers
* New homeschoolers
* Single parents
* Two-career families
* Only children or multiple children
* Special-needs children
* Early-years learning at home
* Elementary-years homeschool
* Middle-years homeschool
* High-school homeschool and graduation
* College and career preparations
* Typical homeschool days, curriculum choices, record-keeping tips, and much more!
Visit our online homeschool site at EverythingHomeschooling.com for more information or to purchase the new 2nd Edition of my Everything Homeschooling Book.
Happy homeschooling!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Free Homeschool Lesson Plans
The Free Homeschool Lessons at our "Everything Homeschooling" website can be accessed simply by clicking: EverythingHomeschooling.com.
The many lessons include Historic and Current Information, Activities, and Games for many of the topics, such as:
- Airplanes
- Animals & Sleep
- Elevators
- Solar Energy
- Lasers
- Static Electricity
- Human Skeleton
- Medieval Times
- Geography Fun
- Green Living
- Paper Structures
- Geometric Shapes in Nature
- Ostriches, Owls, Bats, Spiders, and More!
These are just a few of the thousands of activities on our Everything Homeschooling website, designed to make homeschooling easy, yet educational for your entire family! Visit us at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy Homeschooling!
The many lessons include Historic and Current Information, Activities, and Games for many of the topics, such as:
- Airplanes
- Animals & Sleep
- Elevators
- Solar Energy
- Lasers
- Static Electricity
- Human Skeleton
- Medieval Times
- Geography Fun
- Green Living
- Paper Structures
- Geometric Shapes in Nature
- Ostriches, Owls, Bats, Spiders, and More!
These are just a few of the thousands of activities on our Everything Homeschooling website, designed to make homeschooling easy, yet educational for your entire family! Visit us at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy Homeschooling!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Plan Homeschool Lessons & Homeschool Lesson Plans
Use These 5 Tips to Plan Your Homeschool Lessons:
1. As you go about your day, think of topics that you and your children would like to learn more about.
2. Keep several small notebooks handy for jotting down learning ideas as they come to you throughout the day.
3. Briefly search book websites, such as Amazon.com, to find books to complement your topics of interest. For History lessons, for instance, you'll find "The Civil War for Kids" or "The American Revolution for Kids." For Science experiments, try "Science in Seconds for Kids" or "150 Captivating Chemistry Experiments." Note the book titles on your "Library List" and take a field trip to your local library this week to pick up the books.
4. With your ideas and books in-hand, spend a comfy afternoon relaxing, sipping tea or hot chocolate, and jotting down homeschool lessons for the coming week. Use each book's table of contents and the index for lesson plan ideas, including reading and writing activities, hands-on projects and art-related projects, plus math and reasoning exercises, all gleaned from the books you've selected.
5. Follow this format with every topic or idea that comes to mind, and you'll have plenty of homeschool lessons and activities for each month.
Or, Use the Homeschool Lesson Plans Already Created for You and Your Children:
1. See our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
2. Click your child's grade level and follow the "Weekly Homeschool Lessons" outlined for you.
3. If you'd prefer to follow the "Free Homeschool Lessons" and "Free Creative Writing Lessons," you may click on those, instead of the Weekly Lessons.
4. Print the "Weekly Planner Log" and "Reading Log" Sheets from our "Homeschool Forms" page, and fill them out with the "Weekly Lessons" and "Books to Read" Suggestions.
5. Do lots of fun Hands-On Activities and Experiments to complement the Weekly Lessons. Keep the Log Sheets, your child's completed projects, and photos of projects in your child's portfolio or homeschool binder or box.
Happy homeschooling!
1. As you go about your day, think of topics that you and your children would like to learn more about.
2. Keep several small notebooks handy for jotting down learning ideas as they come to you throughout the day.
3. Briefly search book websites, such as Amazon.com, to find books to complement your topics of interest. For History lessons, for instance, you'll find "The Civil War for Kids" or "The American Revolution for Kids." For Science experiments, try "Science in Seconds for Kids" or "150 Captivating Chemistry Experiments." Note the book titles on your "Library List" and take a field trip to your local library this week to pick up the books.
4. With your ideas and books in-hand, spend a comfy afternoon relaxing, sipping tea or hot chocolate, and jotting down homeschool lessons for the coming week. Use each book's table of contents and the index for lesson plan ideas, including reading and writing activities, hands-on projects and art-related projects, plus math and reasoning exercises, all gleaned from the books you've selected.
5. Follow this format with every topic or idea that comes to mind, and you'll have plenty of homeschool lessons and activities for each month.
Or, Use the Homeschool Lesson Plans Already Created for You and Your Children:
1. See our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
2. Click your child's grade level and follow the "Weekly Homeschool Lessons" outlined for you.
3. If you'd prefer to follow the "Free Homeschool Lessons" and "Free Creative Writing Lessons," you may click on those, instead of the Weekly Lessons.
4. Print the "Weekly Planner Log" and "Reading Log" Sheets from our "Homeschool Forms" page, and fill them out with the "Weekly Lessons" and "Books to Read" Suggestions.
5. Do lots of fun Hands-On Activities and Experiments to complement the Weekly Lessons. Keep the Log Sheets, your child's completed projects, and photos of projects in your child's portfolio or homeschool binder or box.
Happy homeschooling!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year + New Homeschool Lessons!
Happy New Year to Homeschool Families everywhere!
We at EverythingHomeschooling.com wish you all the best with your homeschool experiences and homeschooling goals for the coming year.
Remember that we are always here for you, every day of every week, throughout each year.
We answer all your questions, offer support and guidance, provide an interesting homeschool curriculum and weekly homeschool lessons, plus daily activities for learning fun every day of the week!
See our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Have a wonderful, interesting, and educational homeschool year!
Happy homeschooling!
We at EverythingHomeschooling.com wish you all the best with your homeschool experiences and homeschooling goals for the coming year.
Remember that we are always here for you, every day of every week, throughout each year.
We answer all your questions, offer support and guidance, provide an interesting homeschool curriculum and weekly homeschool lessons, plus daily activities for learning fun every day of the week!
See our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Have a wonderful, interesting, and educational homeschool year!
Happy homeschooling!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Homeschool Curriculum Tips & Homeschool Activities
A curriculum is defined as:
1. courses offered by an educational institution,
2. a list of all the courses of study offered by a school or college,
3. a program or plan of activities.
Your "homeschool curriculum" probably matches definition #3, above. New homeschoolers often become confused over "which curriculum to use" or "where to buy a curriculum."
In reality, a homeschool curriculum is simply "a plan of homeschool activities" that you use in your homeschool. It need not be an expensive curriculum, nor does it need to incorporate textbooks or workbooks.
Homeschoolers can use textbooks and workbooks if they'd like. But it certainly isn't necessary.
Your child will learn more readily and more fully when you and they homeschool in a manner that best complements their own unique learning styles. Spend a bit of time determining your child's own learning style. Consult the book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style, by Mariaemma Willis. Then, based upon your child's learning style, create your own curriculum -- your own program or plan of homeschool activities.
Remember: Homeschooling is not a school at home. Don’t confuse yourself or your children, thinking that it should be. You’ll only make it harder on yourself.
As John Holt warned: “To parents I say, above all else, don’t let your home become some terrible miniature copy of the school. Live together, as well as you can; enjoy life together, as much as you can. Ask questions to find out something about the world itself, not to find out whether or not someone knows it.”
Remind yourself each day that your duty is to guide your child, not force instruction upon him. Your role is to help him learn how to learn and to encourage him to seek answers to questions, find materials and information that will help him learn, explore the things that interest him, and find new and challenging ways to learn.
This, then, will be your family's homeschool curriculum!
For more help with creating your own homeschool curriculum, using homeschool activities, or hundreds of educational ideas for weekly homeschool lessons, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy homeschooling!
1. courses offered by an educational institution,
2. a list of all the courses of study offered by a school or college,
3. a program or plan of activities.
Your "homeschool curriculum" probably matches definition #3, above. New homeschoolers often become confused over "which curriculum to use" or "where to buy a curriculum."
In reality, a homeschool curriculum is simply "a plan of homeschool activities" that you use in your homeschool. It need not be an expensive curriculum, nor does it need to incorporate textbooks or workbooks.
Homeschoolers can use textbooks and workbooks if they'd like. But it certainly isn't necessary.
Your child will learn more readily and more fully when you and they homeschool in a manner that best complements their own unique learning styles. Spend a bit of time determining your child's own learning style. Consult the book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style, by Mariaemma Willis. Then, based upon your child's learning style, create your own curriculum -- your own program or plan of homeschool activities.
Remember: Homeschooling is not a school at home. Don’t confuse yourself or your children, thinking that it should be. You’ll only make it harder on yourself.
As John Holt warned: “To parents I say, above all else, don’t let your home become some terrible miniature copy of the school. Live together, as well as you can; enjoy life together, as much as you can. Ask questions to find out something about the world itself, not to find out whether or not someone knows it.”
Remind yourself each day that your duty is to guide your child, not force instruction upon him. Your role is to help him learn how to learn and to encourage him to seek answers to questions, find materials and information that will help him learn, explore the things that interest him, and find new and challenging ways to learn.
This, then, will be your family's homeschool curriculum!
For more help with creating your own homeschool curriculum, using homeschool activities, or hundreds of educational ideas for weekly homeschool lessons, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy homeschooling!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Summer Learning: Retaining Skills and Knowledge
It's been noted that school children lose about 2 months of knowledge over the summer. As a result, school teachers spend 4 to 6 weeks re-teaching material that students forget during the summer.
Homeschooled children have an advantage over traditionally schooled children during the summer months. Here's a few reasons why:
1. Homeschooled children are accustomed to learning every day, whether it's a weekday, weekend, holiday, or vacation. Learning is simply a natural part of each day, just like eating, sleeping, playing, living.
2. Homeschooled children have a sense of responsibility where their education is concerned. When learning is a natural part of each day, it ranks right along with brushing teeth, getting dressed, giving hugs, caring for others, helping friends or family, choosing a book to read, making something new, solving problems, and other daily activities. Education isn't something that occurs only at school. Rather, it's a natural part of a homeschooled child's everyday life.
3. Homeschooled children enjoy learning, they enjoy challenging themselves, and they enjoy finding new things to learn, whether it's summer, fall, winter, or spring. With the freedom and flexibility to explore a world of knowledge, they are off and running! One idea will lead to another, and -- just like a tree that branches out into new and varied directions -- the homeschooled child follows new topics that consistently branch off into areas of new knowledge and fascinating activities.
Join us at EverythingHomeschooling.com to share ideas on Summer Learning through our Message Board, or to see dozens of Summer Activities that have been suggested.
Happy homeschooling!
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