Recently I inherited a stack of treasures my husband’s mother had saved from his childhood school years. Artifacts included handwriting samples, artwork, and test scores. Although it was fun to see, my home was already bursting at the seams with collections of my own children’s past work. It piles up very quickly.
That is why we decided to go digital with our homeschool portfolios.
There is nothing I enjoy more than taking my children on field trips. These educational excursions get us out in the world and put whatever we are learning about into a real-life context. We get to see first hand how things are interrelated and broaden our horizons in ways that complement the books we are reading in our homeschool curriculum.
Unfortunately, our budget does not always allow for us to travel; particularly when there are so many places from around the world that we’d love to see. One way we get around this limitation is to take virtual field trips through the power of the Internet.
After parents have been homeschooling for several years, the routine of lesson plans, read-alouds, and record keeping can start to feel monotonous. Even parents who embarked upon homeschooling with loads of enthusiasm may start to view their family’s learning lifestyle as commonplace.
While settling into a homeschooling routine can be a good thing, losing joy in teaching children at home is not.
Choosing to homeschool will change the way you think about a lot of things. The longer I homeschool, the more the lines between school and life blur, and that makes it hard for me to answer the question of whether or not we are year-round homeschoolers. Maybe you have this problem, too?
I don’t assign math in the summer months. June through August, I don’t ask my sons to save their work or projects in a three ring binder in our homeschool closet.
Has a home ever really been lived in if no one has homeschooled within its walls?
Homeschoolers know how to live in a house. Every single square inch is commandeered for a purpose, or four or five. The kitchen is, at different times or all at once, the cafeteria, science lab, art room, nurse’s office, dinner theatre, and debate stage. We have even staged an epic fire drill in ours. (It was actually less of a drill and more of the real thing than I care to admit, but you get where I am going with this multi-purposing of rooms.)
Every space is prime real estate for sibling rivalry, and at times, the walls may feel as if they are heaving, cartoon-like as nooks and crannies become reading corners and LEGO stop animation studios.
When I attended public school as a child, I never thought about how much money my parents had to spend to make that possible. Naturally, my biggest concern was getting the right pair of sneakers for my first day of class.
Now that I’m a parent, budgeting is one of my biggest concerns. Having tried both homeschooling and public schooling for my own children, I’ve learned firsthand the different costs associated with both methods.
My boys hate to write, so I am always on the lookout for creative ways to capture their attention and entice their cooperation. Through the years we have tried many different types of writing: journal writing, copywork, free writing, and writing poetry or lyrics. Unfortunately none of those activities were met with more than the barest glimmer of tolerance.
In searching for fun ideas to supplement our language arts program, I came up with a few activities that they actually enjoyed so much they begged me to do them again!
It’s nearing noon. The four of us are strewn around the house reading books, building LEGO models, watching documentaries, or cooking up some kitchen science. Occasionally someone pipes up to ask a question like "How are sound waves and light waves different?" or "What happened at Waterloo?" or "Why do American still use cups when the rest of the world uses liters?"
More often than not, these days include one common ingredient: pajamas.
When we venture out on field trips, our kids get first hand experiences that a book can never mimic. At the same time, homeschool field trips can be stressful, time consuming, and sometimes expensive. Weather is an added factor to consider with outdoor events such as a Civil War re-enactment.
One alternative to packing snacks, loading the van, and buying tickets is the virtual field trip. These online explorations can awaken your child’s love of American history. Besides supplementing your American history curriculum, virtual field trips also provide a way for your child to explore places that may be inaccessible.
Meet Tanya, a mom to three kids ages 7, 4, and 2. She educates her son at home using BookShark Level 1. We had the opportunity to chat with Tanya and find out why she homeschools and why she loves using BookShark with her active seven-year-old boy who loves history and language arts. Plus Tanya shares some tips for getting started with a new BookShark package, dealing with overwhelm, and book storage.
