by Donna | Oct 19, 2015
One of the most important things to do in going “back to school” is definitely incorporating chore sessions (including having trained everybody in their chores during the summer). I have been writing (and podcasting) a lot about this topic this summer, so rather than re-inventing the wheel here, I will direct you to some of those for more help.
I remember vividly the two summers before my August and September babies were born. I had double the motivation to get the chore schedules updated—a new school year and a new baby’s arrival. I made mini posters for above the washing machine, and we had “laundry lessons” for several days. I upped the look of the chore charts to try to excite the kids a little bit about the new divisions of labor. We timed the tasks to be sure they could be done in the allotted time. We instituted “room to room” for three to five minutes before each chore session to ensure that everybody’s things were up out of the way before the cleaner or assistant chef or little laundry lady started her tasks.
(more…)
by Donna | Aug 24, 2015
I have probably said this a thousand times in the past twenty years of speaking to and writing for homeschooling moms: do your dailies! I learned this the hard way (by not doing my dailies!), and once I learned this TRICK (and it does work like magic, so I guess you can call it a trick!), my days were amazingly better.
(more…)
by Donna | Aug 10, 2015
In addition to previewing textbooks with your student, you can help your kinesthetic learner even more by helping him label portions of his book.
Try this approach:
(more…)
by Donna | Aug 3, 2015
Homeschool benefits are many! One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to teach our children HOW to learn. Every time we walk them through a learning task or skill, we are teaching them how to learn. Every time we show them how to find or organize information, we are teaching them how to learn. Every time we make a discovery with them, we are teaching them how to learn.”
(more…)
by Donna | Jul 27, 2015
I have been doing some podcast episodes about efficiency in the kitchen and freezer cooking. I wanted to have this as part of our back-to-school 2015 series, but I knew that auditory presentations would work better.
There are many things in the summer that you can do to set your kitchen up so that you can work more efficiently during the school year thus giving you more time for homeschooling, school activities, and heart training.
(more…)
by Donna | Jun 23, 2015
When I first began home schooling thirty years ago, I had just graduated with an elementary education degree. I had a one-year-old son, and we began home schooling my younger sister. Of course, coming right out of teacher’s college, I began doing things just like I would have done in my classroom. I soon discovered that all of the classroom things were not necessary – that those things were needed for mass education but not necessarily for one-on-one tutoring (or even small group instruction).
(more…)
