Thanksgiving in October: Praise for What We Have and Prayer for Those in Need

Today is Blog Action Day 2008, and the topic is poverty. What does poverty have to do with homeschooling?

First, poverty cannot be ignored. According to the National Center for Children, four out of ten American children are growing up in poverty. The World Bank reports that one in four families in developing countries is living in poverty. That is an enormous amount of people directly affected by poverty!

Additionally, poverty leads to death because of hunger and disease. According to Poverty.com, “there is plenty of food in the world for everyone.” We also have vaccinations for many of the diseases that are killing people who cannot afford them. What a tragedy!

As a mother and homeschooler, I want my children to understand how much we as a nation and as an international community are affected by poverty and that we do not have to stand idly by. Our family owns a home, has electricity, and clean water. We are one of the most fortunate families in the world considering that much of the world does not have any of these things. I want my children to understand that they are living a privileged life and feel blessed and thankful. I want my children to feel empowered to do something about poverty, understanding that we can responsibly help the poor improve their quality of life.  How can my family do tha?

A service project is one answer. Our church based small group has completed a few service projects in the last couple of years such as hosting a yard sale to benefit our troops, making meals for a local halfway house, and cooking dinners for a local ministry. I think that it energized us to want to serve. I encourage you to look at service opportunities in your community.

There are many mission trips that families can take together both domestically and abroad. There are short term mission trips that last approximately two weeks while others last for a year at a time. I have been on a mission trip myself, and I am thinking about mission trips for my children. I know that seeing first hand what a developing country is like had a huge impact on me, and I know that, one day, that my children will have that same experience.

Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of prayer. Pray for the people who are suffering because of poverty. Please pray for the organizations that are sending relief to the poor. Pray for everyone to take initiative to help those in need. Pray to end poverty. I know that we will.

Homeschooling on the Road

Homeschooling my kids means that I can teach them when ever and where ever it seems appropriate. We went on vacation this past week, and I was able to take our school on the road. We enjoyed some relaxation while learning a lot.

On vacation we were able to continue our nature study on our hikes. While we went hiking, we talked about the leaves and continued identifying which trees they came from. We also looked under logs to see the bugs. There were so many tree roots on the trail, so we discussed what the roots are for. All the while we were taking photos and laughing with each other. What great memories!

We also went to a gorge and saw a waterfall there. It was magnificent! The kids were amazed by the size of the waterfall and surprised by how loud it was. They had never seen a waterfall like this one! On this same hike we were able to talk about the plants and bugs that we saw and even used our magnifying glasses to observe the plants more closely. There was a bear’s den tucked away on the hike as well. Since we had read Blueberries for Sal this summer and made a lapbook on it, we were all happy to see a bear’s den up close.

One of the highlights of our trip was a train ride. We were able to see the foliage as we rode through the woods. The train we rode did not have a steam engine, which came to a surprise to our kids. They assume that all trains are like Thomas the Tank Engine. They asked the conductor about it, and we learned that this train runs on diesel fuel that creates electricity that runs the motor. I never knew that and would never have taken the initiative to find that out. Our kids wanted to know what made the train run, though, so we investigated it further.

Why is it so important to me that we can take out school with us when we vacation? My kids’ education is richer from the experiences that they are having on vacation. I am able to encourage their natural interests and reinforce their learning while we are relaxing and making memories. While I am at the library this week, I will look for books about trains to continue the conversation about that. I will also find books about waterfalls and more about autumn. We may also incorporate some new and interesting experiments in the coming weeks. Now my kids have real life experiences to draw from as they read books about trains and nature. They will also be able to write something more meaningful and interesting in a story or an article. There are layers upon layers of meaning folded into their understanding of these three simple experiences.

I hope this inspires you to keep the learning going while you vacation!

“Moving” a Homeschooled Kinesthetic Learner

If you are homeschooling an active child who finds it difficult to sit still, I have a few tips to help you out. Hopefully, these ideas will help you and your child feel a little less frustrated with learning.

Kinesthetic children sometimes need to move before they start doing fine motor work like writing and cutting. If you have a project planned that will include a lot of concentration and that may require an extended period of sitting, try some movement activities before starting. Here are a couple of things you can try out:

• Use an exercise ball. Your child can roll on it, sit on it, bounce on it, or even roll up and down the wall with it.
• Do calisthenics, like jumping jacks, together.
• Go for a jog together first thing in the morning.
• Try out a few yoga poses like “downward dog” and “proud warrior”.
• Play a game of tag in the back yard.
• Play balloon volleyball in the living room.

Sometimes being able to fidget while doing an activity or listening helps a child to focus better. Have you ever seen Akeela and the Bee? She used movement, jumping rope, to help her remember how to spell words. There a few things similar to what Akeela did that you can do to incorporate movement during a learning activity.

• Let your child squeeze a “koosh ball”, a “hacky sac”, or a stress ball.
• Let your child chew gum like “Bazooka” because it offers a lot of resistance.
• Have your child sit in a rocking chair or on an exercise ball while doing work or listening, or let your child stand up while doing work.
• Let your child doodle while you read aloud.
• Try to incorporate some kind of movement task into the work. For example,

1. Toss a ball back and forth while reciting math facts or something that needs to be memorized.
2. Make cookies in the shape of the different states and construct a map of the United States with them.
3. Have your child act out a story or use puppets before trying to write it down.
4. Have a scavenger hunt to find examples of things that are the same color, shape, length, start with the same sound, etc.

Sometimes, even though you have tried these other strategies, a kid still needs to move. This child needs the work to be broken into smaller chunks of time. Work for a short period and reward your child with a movement break. Your child could go check the mail, go get a snack, or maybe let the dog out. Then get back on track with your project.

I hope you and your kinesthetic child can learn together more harmoniously with these tips. Happy learning!

Homeschool Lessons: Watching Economic History Unfold

If your children are a little older, watching the current state of the economy unfold could be fodder for a series of lessons about business. This could be achieved by reading the paper, listening to pod casts and learning about what is the sub prime lending market.

For example creating a diagram following the money from home owner to lender, to investment banks, to insurance agencies to the federal government.  By looking at each of these steps on the financial ladder, you and your children will gain some level of respect for how the financial systems have spiraled into a state where a 700 billion dollar loan from the federal government is being proposed.  To put this into perspective, if you consider there are roughly 100 million people who pay taxes (children, elderly and poor make up the rest), this loan amounts to a $7000 loan from every taxpayer in America. That is something you and your children can think about! Have your child write an op-ed article giving an opinion about this financial crisis once you’ve done the research.

I would recommend a few resources for your research
- Wall Street Journal
- New York Times
- NPR (Marketplace)
Just by taking a few minutes a day to learn about these events will bring a lifetime of knowledge about being financially responsible.  Good luck and have fun as we watch history unfold.

Greenspan , “let’s recognize that this is a once-in-a-half-century, probably once-in-a-century type of event.”

Homeschooling Win in California

Homeschooling Coach is glad to introduce Dad’s Corner, which includes articles written by a homeschooling dad. Dad’s Corner this week features Eric.

I wanted to bring people a quick update on the status of homeschooling in California.  There is a great article in Eureka Reporter called Court reconnects with reality in homeschool reversal.  The case had been centered around a mother of eight who was homeschooling.  The appellate court overturned the original court decision requiring teaching certification to homeschool in California.

It is suggested that this reflects the Legislature’s understanding that numerous home schools file private school affidavits in California. This is not an unreasonable interpretation. While it is possible that some private schools with five or fewer students are, in fact, traditional private schools in which the teacher is unrelated to the students, it is much more likely that the private schools referred to by this law are home schools.

The court was out of sync with the legislature and the department of education

The Legislature is aware that homeschooling parents file affidavits as private schools, and has passed laws based on that awareness. The Department of Education has not challenged the practice, and the LAUSD has not asserted that the children of such parents are truant.

A copy of the decision can be found here.

For now the decision is a win for homeschoolers.

8 Ways to Encourage Curiosity

Homeschooling has given me a new lens to look at the world of education through. Many times I have my own plans for what we are going to do, but my children and my husband definitely have shown me that there are may different ways to approach learning. My experience with my own children has revealed to me that I can let my children take the wheel more often than not, and I can encourage them to question.

My children have a strong desire to know more. They ask “why” constantly – more than I would like to hear!  It has made me think about ways to encourage children’s natural curiosity and desire to learn. Here are some strategies that I have found successful:

1. When your child asks a question or a series of questions, answer them the best that you can, and find the answers if you don’t know them. I like to think that since I answer my kids’ questions to the best of my ability, they are encouraged to be that much more inquisitive. If you brush off your child’s questions, s/he will simply stop asking.
2. If you are truly exasperated by the shear number of questions (and I am often), turn the questions back on your child. Find out if your child can make a hypothesis or a deduction based on the information at hand or prior experiences.
3. Ask your child lots of questions when you are out and about or in the middle of a teachable moment. Expect your child to use higher order thinking skills, too. For example, today we went to Plimoth Plantation. I asked my children to deduce what a room was used for based on the clues they found in the room. I also asked them to make observations about the houses and compare them to our home. What does our home have that these homes do not? Why do you think these homes do not have those things?
4. Ask your own genuine questions when your child is with you. For example, I have wondered why certain plants will not grow in particular parts of our yard, and I want to find ones that will grow. Then it is my job to find the answers to those questions. Remember that you are your child’s model. Children imitate adult behavior – even older kids – so give them a great example for what it means to be curious, and show them where you can find the answers to your own questions.
5. Go on adventures! Novel experiences stimulate the mind. Your child will be more likely to have questions if you give your child a wide variety of experiences to draw from. Go hiking. Go to museums. Try gardening. try something new.
6. Here is your chance to live vicariously through your children. Play with them and encourage imaginative play!Your involvement in imaginative play will change the play scenarios and encourage thinking skills.
7. Read to your child. Remember to read a variety of genres – poetry, nonfiction, historical fiction, science fiction, etc. Try reading aloud genres that your child typically does not read on his/her own to broaden his/her horizons. The new ideas presented as you read will open your child up to new ways of thinking. This is also an opportunity to ask more of those questions. Encourage your child to also ask questions while you read.
8. Let your child take the lead. Observe your child in one of those new situations. What is interesting? What is your child drawn to? Now take some time to draw that out of your child. Maybe you can also plan other adventures that incorporate more of your child’s interests.

Enjoy your children’s natural curiosity and let yourself be taken away by it from time to time.

Survey of Homeschoolers

We are performing a survey of homeschooling families in order to fine tune how best to serve this community with our services.  If you could please take 5 minutes and fill out the survey attached in this post it would be immensely appreciated.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=a7FFoPj_2fkXqXh0aKAv3DLA_3d_3d

Home School Gardening Project Tips

As a homeschooler, I find that preparing materials for great work that I want to do is sometimes hard. Some things just take a lot of preparation.  One way you can limit curriculum planning for your home school is by setting up ongoing projects. There is always something to do when you have a project, and you can add a lot of learning that is fun and interactive. Projects often take on a life of their own.

One great project is a garden. Gardening incorporates layers of skills, and it is great for kinesthetic and tactile learners. Obviously it is a science project, but there is so much more that you can do with it. My family has started a garden this summer, and we are having fun with it! The kids are really excited about watering the plants and making observations. We are trying to make more detailed observations about the shape and colors that we see in the garden. Here are some tips to add learning to your gardening experience.

• Do some research together about what plants grow in different kinds of light, and allow your children some choice about what to plant in the garden.
• Lookat the seeds before you plant them. Observe the shape, color, and texture.
• Use your science journals to make observations about the garden. Remember to make careful observations about the plants.
• The scientific drawings should be accurate – down to the colors. Remember to include written observations.
• Measure the plants as they grow and chart it. Make predictions about how much each plant will grow.
• Use new vocabulary when you talk about the garden. Talk about tilling the soil and fertilizing the plants. Name the tools. Find more information about gardening vocabulary at Katina’s Little Gardeners.

Your gardening experience should be a fun family project. Enjoy!

God is Pleased and Home Educates Us

Home schooling means that you are intimately involved in every part of your child’s education. You see your child’s failures, missteps, and victories while you homeschool. All parents are proud of their children when they learn a new skill or solve a problem, but parents who home educate cannot help but feel an enormous sense of pride in their children’s accomplishments. It’s as if you the parent accomplished something when really it is the child who has. However, in a home school the parent has a lot to be proud of because you have also done a lot of work. You have invested much of your time, energy, and love into your child’s education. Your home school is an investment. Your child is your treasure. You invest in your treasure. Watching the fruit of your labor fills you with joy.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17Matthew 3:16-17
English: World English Bible - WEB
16 Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him. ¹⁷ Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

God was pleased with His son, Jesus, because he submitted to His authority. Jesus followed God’s plan for him. If you as a mere human can feel so overwhelmingly proud of your child’s accomplishments, can you imagine how God felt about His son, His good and perfect son, Jesus? He had to tell the whole world that He was pleased with His son. That just reminds me of how important it is to see that Jesus is my example to follow. God is well pleased with His son; I should emulate Jesus’ life and be more Christ-like by submitting to God’s authority. I want to please God in a way that will make Him want to announce it to the whole world!

Here God’s teaching style applies to the home school. In this passage, God spoke to the people, which happens so rarely in the Bible, so we know that He has something important to say. God also gained everyone’s attention for His announcement. Here He used two means of getting people’s attention: His voice and visuals (the image of a dove and lighting). God’s example shows me how to do the same in my home school. First, visuals are key, so meaningful images that highlight important concepts make an impact . Also using your voice in unexpected ways calls attention.

God is pleased with His son and announces that to the world, but gets everyone’s attention when He makes His point. I am certainly pleased with my children, but God is well pleased with His son. I want Him to be well pleased with me. Like my God I will make sure I have everyone’s attention when I make an important point.

Home Education: Not My Idol

As a home educator, I think that my priorities are in order. My curriculum is good. My home school is progressive; I try new things. I home educate because I am good at teaching.

They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ Exodus 32:8Exodus 32:8
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

I have noticed that I am walking the fine line of making my role as a mother and home educator into my “golden calf”, an idol. I build my identity, in part at least, around these roles. Being at home and educating my own children puts me in a vulnerable place because all day that is what I am focused on.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Exodus 20:4Exodus 20:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

I see the idolatry pattern throughout my history and still feel the effects of that sin. I was a classroom teacher. For most of my life I knew that I was going to teach. I identified myself as a teacher and built my life around that role. i spent long hours preparing my classroom, grading papers, preparing lessons, and the list goes on. I poured my heart and soul into work. My home life suffered as a result. I was not exercising or eating right. I was getting home late. I had no time to be with friends. I fell into a depression. I was not a Christian yet. This is the sin that actually brought me to Christ, so I can see how it is my achilles heel. So what do I do about that?

Developing deep, meaningful friendships has helped me. My friends help me to focus on someone else. I am reminded that it is not all about me. It helps to be with just adults and talk about current events and beyond. My friends also help me to stop taking myself so seriously. Life is fun and interesting. Also God created a beautiful place for us all to enjoy. Getting out into the beautiful world helps me to see the possibilities and gets my creativity going. Most importantly I spend time with God. I fail at this a lot, but when I am on track with it, my quiet time centers me on Christ. It puts me in my place as God’s servant. It reminds my that I do not need an idol. I have a living God who loves me and wants to have a personal relationship with me.

 ’Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:4Leviticus 19:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 “‘Don’t turn to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I am Yahweh your God.

I have to remember that my identity comes from God, and I am home educating my children for Him to bring Him glory and serve His kingdom. He may call me to serve in another way in the future, but for now, He wants me right where I am – homeschooling. This is a calling, not a choice for me.