Here in the second part of this mini series we’ll expound on necessary steps to ensure home school efforts are realizing the best results possible. To quickly recap, the first covered the need of socialization both in a grand scale, simply learning societal and situational rules and in a a more micro setting, socialization amongst peers. Finally the article addressed learning outside the home from experiences to be had in the world.

A parent/educator must know they are not the end all for their child’s education. It’s okay to recognize one’s limits, in fact it’s healthy and offers a great learning opportunity to a child: seeing a parent know their limitation and how they respond to it. For example, much is to be learned from team sports, not all are equipped to be a football coach, etc. In this case, the parent looks outside his/her self and enrolls the child into a sport league. Perhaps it’s camping or tying knots or painting or building or working on cars, etc., there are many opportunities to expose a child to the world at hand, to provide learning opportunities by recognizing ones own limits and responding positively to the limits.

Too, a parent/educator may be fully able to teach something but may opt to enroll the child in a setting to do the teaching for the simple reason of change. Children will tune into a new voice differently than they do to a voice they hear every day. In other words, they get tired of the same voice. Being a parent/educator is doubly tiring because you are life’s teach and now school teacher and this can stress the parent child relationship. Being cognizant of this natural stress can go a long way to mitigate tensions.

Once limitations are owned new doors can be opened to provide the home school child an unlimited education of life and learning.

Often home school kids aren’t physical enough. In school there is physical education, recess and or team sports. All of these offer physicality an important element in learning. Studies have shown tying physicality to a lesson or during a lesson increases memory retention. Too, there is the physical awareness of ones own body: balance, coordination, spacial awareness, muscle tone, etc. This isn’t to say all kids should be athletes but being physical, being in motion is positive for health and vitality, learning and recollection.

Many park and recreation departments across the US offer relatively affordable organized team sports. In cities, public pools will often have swimming programs. Gyms have ad-hoc league sports, choreographed exercise classes and often stretching and or yoga classes. Boys and girls clubs have group activities. There are non-lead activities as well: walking, biking, hiking, rope skipping, etc. Then there are travel too outings like adventure camps. Plenty of opportunities abound, create some time in the busy schedule and engage in something physical.

Spinning off of physicality is the need for self-awareness and self-discovery. There is a powerful self-empowering aspect to challenging oneself and achieving a goal. This empowerment can come from engaging a new situation and leaving the situation feeling good about one’s self, how they handled the situation. Even more comes from taking on a challenge that has an initial response of, ‘no way, I couldn’t do that’, and then doing it. Students, and adults for this matter, feel better about themselves when they accomplish something. This is why people swim the English Channel, run marathons, enter spelling bees etc. These experiences make us better people, make us stronger and give us a stronger sense of self and conviction to stand by our beliefs.

Often the greatest growth comes when students are engaged in a new environment without the parent/educator around, when everything is new, including the instructors. This newness removes old habits of quitting or turning for help prematurely. The student asks for help and the parent has anticipated this need and is there to help. In a new environment the student relies more on his or herself before turning for help. This allows a stretching of one’s personal boundaries, creating a new territory of self definition, allowing for growth and greater self confidence, greater self awareness.

An excellent source of all of these aspects of learning: socialization, peer-socialization, experiential education, new voices of teaching, physicality and self-discovery, are outdoor adventure camps. We specifically suggest an outdoor camp because these are most often going to have a focus on physical/engaged learning with ropes or hikes, whitewater rafting, camping etc. These camps provide a whole host of learning experiences. If you choose a resident style the learning in magnified exponentially. The concentrated experiences lend themselves to tremendous growth and prove extremely healthy to the home schooler who not only finds new confidence but friends to keep in touch throughout the year.

Stories about a disturbing number of parents abandoning their children in Nebraska have captured national headlines.  A safe haven law with an unfortunate loophole allows parents to drop off their children at any hospital in the state without consequence.  Although the law was initially designed to protect infants in unwanted circumstances, parents of older children are using this law as a way out of difficult situations.  These types of stories shine a negative light on all parents across the nation, stealing the spotlight away from truly newsworthy parents.

Headlines rarely feature the small group of dedicated single parents willing to give up everything to provide the best education possible for their children.  This growing group of single parents may not get the recognition that they deserve, but the movement continues to expand.  It seems impossible that a single parent would be able to home school their children when in fact they must work full time to support their family.  Bearing in mind a few vital factors, this difficult task can be accomplished.

Flexibility Factor

When children attend a traditional school they must conform to the school curriculum and schedule.  However, when a child is home schooled, there is much more flexibility.  For example, classes can take place at times convenient for both parent and child such as on evenings or weekends.  That flexibility is possible because a home schooled child may not require as much time to learn a lesson as a whole classroom of students.  In addition, there are curriculum available where older children can work independently, then review with an adult.

Family Factor

A single parent needs to secure the assistance of friends and families in order to be successful with a home school program.  Some fortunate parents already have a close knit support group within their own communities.  Other parents may need to relocate in order to be closer to family members who are willing to help.  Churches are also filed with people who are more than willing to lend a hand to single parents in their attempt to educate their children.  Some churches even have programs for home schoolers.  Often, participating families are happy to include children of single parents on trips and special events.   Even some babysitters may be willing to work on academics while watching the children.  It is possible to find support by simply reaching out.

Faith Factor

Some home schooling parents are willing to take the risk of working from home.  For some, a career change is necessary in order to be able to work from home.  For others, it means working out a work-from-home deal with their company.  Wise financial planning and budgeting play a major role in successfully implementing a home schooling program.  Shopping at yard sales, consignment shops and good will stores may be a necessity.  Other sacrifices such as downgrading a vehicle or moving into a smaller home may also be necessary in order to afford less hours of work.  Parents need to have faith in themselves and know that although these are significant sacrifices, they are well worth it.

Behavioral Issues

Death and divorce are the main reasons why a person might be left a single parent.  Although behavior issues rise in all types of children, those who have experienced a death or divorce are more likely to exhibit behavior problems.  For these children in particular, home schooling is the best option.  Children who have lost a parent crave stability and need to feel like they can trust the adults who are still in their world.  A parent who is present consistently will have more insight into their child’s behaviors and know how to best handle them.  It’s hard to provide consistency when you are a single parent responsible for handling all things, without taking a break.  But, single parent home schoolers consent that their children are worth all the sacrifices.
Support for Learning Disabilities

Just because a child has a learning disability does not mean that they must be enrolled in public school.  One of the most common childhood learning disabilities, ADHD, had been proven to be best taught in the home.  The advantage of having children with learning disabilities taught in the home is that parents can tailor the curriculum specifically to their needs.  In a classroom of 30 children, the teacher will not be able to give a child with a learning disability the time or attention necessary for their success.  When parents teach their children, they give them their undivided attention, which leads to understanding their unique needs and better addressing those needs.

If you think your child has difficulty learning, have your child evaluated by a professional.  Finding out the specific disability will help parents research the nature of the disability and the most appropriate practices for teaching the child.  Knowing the specific disability will also help parents get connected with support groups made up of other parents.  Support groups can often be found online.  Seminars are available to empower parents to deal with specific disabilities.  Never believe that children with disabilities are better off in public school.  A special education teacher deals with such a wide variety of disabilities that they only scratch the surface of each.  As the parents of one child with a disability, you would become a subject matter expert in your child’s disability.  Your love and concern as a parent qualifies you as the best teacher.

Child-focused Curriculum

Single parents home schoolers have found that the best curriculum for them is the child-taught one.  Robinson Curriculum is one such curriculum that has proven results throughout the years.   It was developed for her children by Laurelee Robinson, whose husband was left a single-parents home schooler after her passing.  The children began to teach themselves with much success.  These types of curriculum’s give single parents the freedom to guide their children in their learning, without the hassle of preparing and teaching lessons.

Being a single parent requires great strength, commitment and support from others.  No one plans to be a single parent.  But when caught in that situation, many parents are choosing to sacrifice even more in order to provide their children the best education possible.  In the end, these parents have no doubt that they are doing the best for their child.

How can a Homeschool Planner help you?

Many homeschool families would agree that being organized will help to determine the peacefulness and smooth running of a home. Whilst not all things are under our control, actively putting routines and systems in place help us prioritize our lives and pursue our goals.

The first three habits which Stephen Covey addresses in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, are

• Be Proactive
• Begin with the end in mind
• Put First Things First

Although I will not be addressing these habits in detail, it is amazing how a Homeschool Planner allows you to puts these habits into action.Proactive people will use their initiative to find solutions and methods to solve problems. They respond positively to the situations they are in, use the situations to build character and actively seek to work on a solution. Being proactive as a homeschooling family is to address the foreseeable problem of having a bunch of unruly, bored children in your home with you for 24 hours a day. A reactive person would tend to accept the situation, believing there is nothing they can do about it, and in fact become passive and do nothing.

The second habit of beginning with the end in mind, is also another favorite of my homeschool and life philosophy. When a person knows where they are headed and what long term goals they are pursuing, it is much easier to keep focused. The homeschooling family should have an idea of where they want to lead their children - making it easier to develop short term (yearly, term by term) goals once the long term (big picture) goals have been discussed and agreed upon.

Once you have the end in mind, it is easier to prioritize in your life and Put First Things First.

So, how does a Homeschool Planner help the homeschooling family become more effective?

A Homeschool Planner is as unique as each family. It is not a strict 15 minute timetabled account of a homeschooling family, driven by a over-conscientious mother. It is a written expression which reflects your home. Whether you homeschool by a schedule, in unit studies, in a natural learning approach, using your own eclectic family philosophy, it is a place which allows you to journal, record experiences, add comments, write in assignment charts, keep track of personal and family events, as well as helping you run your household in regards to chores, menus and groceries. A Homeschool Planner can be as simple as your require. But, I believe that the time you spend now in organizing your own Homeschool Planner will be the time you save every week the whole year through.

A Homeschool Planner is a place where you can begin to write your goals. It is also a place where you can organize parts of your daily household and homeschooling life to reflect the big picture goals and the priorities. Speaking from my own personal experience, I need to write down my thoughts and allocate space in my day to enable myself to keep my priorities in balance.

If you already have a Planner, here are some steps to guide you in using your planner.

• Use It! Get into the habit of using your planner on a daily basis. Add information to your monthly calendar to see the month-at-a-glance.
• Choose a day (Friday or Saturday) on which you organize the following week and do this every week:
  Weekly Appointments Page.
  • Open to the Weekly Appointment Page of your planner. What week are you in? - for cleaning zones and meals? Enter the Zone area to the block at the top of the Weekly Appointment Page.- e.g. Zone: Bathroom, Laundry, Outdoor;
  • Add the date to the top of the Weekly Appointments Page.
  • Refer to your Weekly Meal Chart and add the meals to the Menu Column on your page.
  • Print out your grocery list or bring your planner with you shopping for that week’s menus.
  • Add to the To Do List as something important comes to mind.
  • Add any appointments (doctors, sports, music lessons etc) to the week - check your monthly calendar.
  Weekly Assignment Charts
  • Sit in a place where you can access all the children’s books or curriculum which you use.
  • Fill in the weekly assignment chart for each child. List pages of workbooks/ reading assignments/ activities/ topic being studied and so on.
  • If your children are marking off their work in your planner, explain how the planner works and where you want them to tick off their work. Some planners have a small box on the side for this. You may want them to check it off or colour in the box when work is completed.
  • Photocopy the weekly assignment chart for each child if you want them to work off and mark their own copy.
  Journal and Comments Page
  • Add to your journal and comments page as needed. Remember this is a good way to keep a family learning diary; It helps you to record the strengths and weaknesses of each child and allows you to plan what you may concentrate on in the months to come.

Other pages you may like to include in your planner are Goal Pages/ Address Lists / To Do Pages and Monthly and Yearly Calendars.

A Homeschool Planner should be as complete as possible, to eliminate the need for other diaries and organizers. It should be a tool for you to help you prioritize your life and pursue your homeschooling goals.

A: The Back to Basics — The Biblical Principle Approach is a Christ-centered, Conservative Christian, curriculum that our family has developed for teaching our children in their home education. We instill first and foremost, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. We also instruct with a Biblical worldview creating in each of our students a Conservative Christian mind-set and value system. Our foundation is God’s Word ~ The Bible ~ The Holy Scriptures. We teach solely with a Biblical Worldview and instruct our students with biblical thinking in all aspects of our curriculum.

Q: Why did you develop this curriculum?

A: To teach our children first and foremost our Old Testament Heritage, while fully acknowledging our New Testament beliefs. The Bible says: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29 NIV).

Q: What textbook is the foundation of your curriculum?

A: The Holy Bible. We teach our children that the “Crimson Thread, Jesus Christ” has weaved itself from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. We want them to know that we can also weave this same Crimson Thread in every aspect and subject of education.

A: Yes, by the laws of the State of Indiana our home school is considered the same as a Private Christian School. We have structured our curriculum around the standards that the State requires, while keeping true to the Word of God.

If you would like further information on God’s - Biblical Principle Approach to Learning and/or Teaching, please request a copy of our Curriculum Vitae. We would love to share with you what the Lord has done in our own lives, email us to speak at your homeschooling event. We would be most honored. Email at:  contactus@thegardenofgrace.com

Q: What is The Biblical Principle Approach to Christian Teaching and Learning of Biblical American History and how does it relate to American Economy, and American Government?

Crosswords are one of the great things to develop the skills of your kid. There is no need that you have to get a book for crosswords. Due to advancements in modern day technology, these sort of crosswords can be obtained from the internet itself. They are called as the printable crossword puzzles for kids. There is a real need to develop the brain of kids. It is the right time to do so, that is when your child is a kid, to start initiating his brain to think. The crosswords and other activities will help your kid to think more and hence, his brain starts to develop. As a result of this, your kid becomes sharper and mentally very fit and competitive. Today’s world is far too much competitive and hence only person with knowledge and intelligence can survive easily. Hence the need for developing a kid’s brain is very significant and very much a need. There are many ways to do so and one of them is by crossword puzzles.

Crossword provide your kid with a chance to develop aptitude skills and also helps to develop other skills related to brain. There are many types of crossword puzzles involving language skills, mathematical skills and so on. Traditionally it has been the books that had these crossword puzzles. But nowadays there is internet that helps you to get them easily. There are a lot of websites that has thousands o these printable crossword puzzles or kids. They can be seen, printed and given to your kid. These sort of crossword puzzles are available free o cost in many sites. So, a person can browse through them and select a puzzle for their kid with apt difficulty level. Also they give you the option to print the puzzle. You may hand out the printed puzzle to your kid to solve. The sites also provide answer key and solutions to the crossword puzzles. But there are some sites that charge a bit for these service. Though they charge, there is quality in these sites. Many of them are devised by trained professionals, who are experts in the field. They give you the apt kind of difficulty level. They also provide with valuable feed backs and hence you can train your kid in the area, where he or she is lagging. Also these sites increase the difficulty levels on passage of time. They also have the crossword puzzle for different age limits.

A person is left to choose from thousands of puzzles. So a parent must choose an apt puzzle with apt difficulty level for his kid. After choosing, the crossword puzzle can be printed and can be given to your kid. This is the basic concept behind printable crossword puzzle for kids. The printable crossword puzzle helps your kid to become sharper and more competitive. These prove to be the first steps to what is going to be a tough life for them. These help them and ensure their competitive edge and hence make them better individuals.

Home school can bring a wide and very varied range of experiences for the children, but for the parent it can bring the difficulty of buying out time to teach whilst still earning a living. Working from home can make this situation easier, thanks to the huge degree of flexibility that it offers.

The youngest children can be both the easiest and the most difficult to deal with. The curriculum during pre-kindergarten and the kindergarten years takes little time out of your day to complete and is not very taxing on the parent.

However, this in itself can present a problem as the majority of the time needed is spent on explaining the activities and tutoring your child through them, leaving only a small amount of time for the child to work alone. Additionally, the short attention span of these young children means that there is little chance to work before it is time to move onto the next activity.

For this age group, you may wish to wait for nap time or bed time to begin work. Alternatively, work may be possible when the other parent is home or when the children spend time with grandparents or other relatives.

As the children get older, the time spent on school work will increase. With good organization you may be able to work at the same time, side by side in your home office.

By arranging your school day into teaching and work periods you may well be able to teach the topic that your children are to be working on, and then set them an assignment to complete based around the subject that you just explained. Then, when they are working nearby you may attempt to complete some of your own work, until such a time as they again need your assistance.

For some children, this may be so frequently that you are unable to make any progress of your own, especially if you are home schooling to meet the special need of your child. This again leaves you waiting until after bedtime or until the children are with someone else for you to be able to work.

Activities are another way to buy out time with older home schooled children. Many school districts have requirements for all home schooled children to fulfill physical education hours, and this doesn’t always mean that you have to sign them up for expensive classes. Instead they may be able to join and participate in the local school team for free, and the same applies to music education needs being met by joining the school band. These periods of time can be employed for your own gains.

Lastly, involving the children in other aspects of running the home can not only broaden their experiences and education by teaching them valuable skills such as cooking, gardening and home maintenance, but help reduce the time that you spend on these tasks. This then give you more time to work whilst they sleep or enjoy free time activities, such as favored hobbies, having learned that recreation comes after responsibilities are fulfilled.

The flexibility of both home schooling and working from home can lead to a very satisfying experience for all when you are able to find a balance between the two.

Studying for your Maths A level exam can be extremely stressful, but it can be made easier with a good organized plan and effective resources.below are some techniques you may find useful, I say may as everyone has preferences when learning but more about that later.

• at the back of each chapter in your maths book can be a good place to start, the summary at the end covers the most important parts of each chapter and often has question relating to what you have previously learned and a mini test.
• Now this is a must! Ask your teacher if they have any old exam papers you can borrow, old exam papers are an excellent revision tool for example did you know that your A level maths exam could very well have questions with in it, that are in the old exam papers.
• If you go online Edexcel and OCR websites will often have past exam questions for you to download.
• Another little gem is keeping a learning journal, not only will it help your revision you will find it also helps in organizing your learning strategy and focus, after study make a note of what you did, then any points that warrant extra attention and so on it’s a very useful tool.
• Try to use your learning, in your life for instance try and teach what you have been learning to someone in the family or friends, this will probably bore them at first but it really is an excellent method. If you are interested in what you are learning then people will pick up on your enthusiasm and listen to what you have to say.
• In your notes take key points down, as your knowledge grows use your notes to assess your self, and rewrite them you will find that your notes become smaller and more specific.
• Get online - Whatever did I do before the internet I used books of course, but seriously the internet is phenomenal and the only real gripe I have is the information that you read can often come from inexperienced sources however it will help your investigation into further learning and lead you in the right direction I often use the internet to research an idea and then back it up with books from the library.

There are many approaches to revising! One method that suits one student may not suit another student, it is a very personnel matter. For instance I find that just reading out of books has little to no use for me and to better understand something I have to cross reference what I am reading with another source of information. Other students may find that reading their notes and rewriting them helps them to understand their A level study, and others may need to research further to grasp the concepts. The main point here is that to better understand your Maths a certain level of experience is needed.

You see we all have a different style of learning and if we all, as students spent a little time understanding our own learning styles, we would not only speed our growth as maths students but also as learners as well.

To better understand what your learning style is, you could try Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and the Learning Style Inventory which is tool to help you understand your learning style. Also Blooms taxonomies of learning objectives which details a system for taking your learning beyond the memory recall level of reading, listening and watching presentations.

Most likely, if you are reading this article, you are exploring the option of homeschooling your child or children. This article covers five important considerations you must make before diving into a homeschooling journey.

Consideration 1: Ask yourself if you can afford to home school. While this is not entirely a full-time job, it does take up a good portion of your day everyday without the benefit of a monetary paycheck. Your reward is the education your child receives which unfortunately, does not pay the bills. Determining if homeschooling is an option within your family budget is a priority.

Consideration 2: Research to find other homeschoolers in your area. Approximately 2 million children are homeschooled in the United States alone, and the numbers are growing rapidly. The internet is a powerful research tool and you can connect with other homeschoolers through online forums. Homeschooling families on forums are only too happy to share tips, and you can find other homeschoolers in your local community to meet with.

Also, if you and your child are on an outing, and you see other children and their parents out and about, do not be afraid to strike up a conversation. Ask if they are also homeschoolers. You never know!

Consideration 3: Remember that homeschooling need not mimic public school in the way of curriculum. Many, if not most, homeschooling families do not follow a set curriculum. Leave the notion that you have to be just like a school teacher behind you, and create your own learning program that best suits you and your child.

Consideration 4: Homeschooling is a family activity and it is perhaps prudent that you don’t make this decision without family input.

Consideration 5: Talk to your kids about taking them out of school. The way you approach this is going to depend greatly on the age of your child. For younger school-aged kids this might be more challenging, as younger children thrive on routine and removing them from school will be initially disruptive. Talk to your child so you can explore their feelings about being at home.

On the other hand, teens are much more easily adaptable and talking to them about learning through real-life experience may appeal to them much more than being in a strict schedule that public school offers.