By Ann Zeise
On June 9th a member of the A2Z Homeschool group asked how others managed to homeschool and get in some personal time for exercise. This created quite a stir because it is something many of us struggle with.
Maybe before we started homeschooling, we used to drop the kids off at school, and then head for the gym or go for a jog. Now we have kids of assorted ages and abilities around us all day, needing what seems to be all our time and privacy. The house gets messier and so housework seems to require more time. So how can a mom find about an hour a day for a fitness routine? Here are many suggestions from me and other homeschool moms.
Use the gym's child care, which is fine if the gym is strict about not allowing any sick, contagious kids.
Then there is dedicating some space in your home for a few pieces of gym equipment. I think most of us have a dusty exercycle stashed somewhere. If you'll use it, fine. Try to have some items in one spot so the whole family can exercise together. Remember: by setting a good example, you are also "teaching" your children. One member "inherited" a treadmill from a neighbor who no longer wanted it. Do check yard sales for exercise equipment, especially if you don't need the latest electronic gizmos on it.
Put a TV in front of the exercise equipment. Make a rule that you can only have that TV on while exercising. If you want to see the end of a show, you'll keep moving!
I used to keep a mystery book on the exercycle's stand. My rule was that I could only read that book on the execycle, so if I wanted to find out "who done it," I had to get back on and workout!
Of all the latest exercise "programs," the Wii Fit seems to be the most popular. If you can't find it on Amazon, try Ebay. one member says the competition in her household to gain and hold the top 5 positions in the scoring is high. Even the tiniest child enjoys trying to do it in her own way.
You don't have to run out and buy specialized equipment. You can use cans of food for "weight lifting." A broom or mop can be used for stretching and flexibility exercises. You can dance to the radio or any music source you happen to already own.
One member considers hanging out her family laundry great bending and stretching exercise. See! You can turn ordinary household tasks into exercise, if you think about it!
Do you go to a homeschool Park Day? Ask one of the moms to watch your kids, give the older kids cell phones to page you, while you walk or jog around the perimeter of the park.
Often the normal park equipment offers forms of exercise. Even pushing kids on the swing can be tiring. Running them around on a merry-go-round can wipe you out! Climb the slide and go on down about a hundred times! Better than a Stairmaster! Our park system offers a "Par Course" from one end to the other. These are often in disrepair, depending on the economy, but when they are freshly painted, repaired, and clean, they can be fun.
Parents should take turns watching the children so the other spouse can get some alone time exercising. Or pay your teenager so the two of you can go for an evening stroll or swim for even a half hour. Explain that if you are more fit, you'll be more happy and energetic, and then more willing to also meet their needs.
But what if one child has asthma or a heart condition and really can't do aerobic exercise? One mom solved this by pulling the child in a wagon, which on a long walk would feel like a long workout at the gym. As they get older, such a child could do weight training, lifting weights instead of aerobic exercise. Here is a site with suggestions for family-friendly, adaptive physical fitness exercises.
Make the time! If you have a home school planner, put a time to exercise in that schedule. If you unschool, then still put exercise time in your calendar! After a month of getting into a routine, you may not need to so formally write it down, but to get started, this can really help.
Open up more time by automating some tasks. Our mom who started this thread said that paying bills was taking up a lot of her time. I don't pay bills any more. Didn't mean that the way it sounds. What I've done is to set it up so the bills pay themselves. It's all automated now. They all pay themselves a few days after my largest check comes in, around the first. My job is just to keep the checking account full enough! I look at the bills online in case there is something I may want to dispute.
I also don't do laundry every day. We've had a time-of-use electric meter for years, and with that only weekends and some holidays are at the cheap rate all day, so Saturdays became laundry day. Everyone brings down their baskets on Friday night, and I get the laundry started, and the guys help me move everything along throughout the day. By evening the clean clothes are back to their closets and drawers, and we don't think about it for another week.
So, girl friends, no more excuses. Involve your family to make some time each day to have some form of exercise. I'll link to some resources for exercise equipment on this page, but don't let a tight budget stop you. Walking is free. Housework is inevitable and can been done in an aerobic or weight lifting way. Follow your kids when they run around and join in their games for "exercise."
You CAN do this!
Most people, when they first encounter the idea of home schooling, have one hundred and one questions. This article is intended to act as a reference point for people interested in the prospect of home schooling their children. The first question many parents ask is “Why would we want to school our children at home?”
There are a number of benefits to home schooling your children. Home schooling yields positive academic, social, emotional, and spiritual benefits for any family that is willing and prepared to give it a chance. Study after study has shown that children that are home schooled outrank their public and private schooled peers in every academic area. Child safety has been cited by many parents as a motivation for home schooling.
With the prevalence of guns and violence in schools, this should come as no surprise. There is also the benefit of reducing your child’s exposure to peer pressure regarding drugs, alcohol, and sexual activity. A cursory glance at the statistics of teenage alcohol/drug abuse, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease is enough to scare any thinking parent into considering what actions they can take in order to insulate their children from such dangers.
In the case of children with special needs, parents can rest assured that their children are receiving the attention they need and deserve. Home schooling also goes a long way in bringing families closer together, as children really tend to thrive under parental attention. It has been said that a family that learns together, grows together!
Home schooling also has the added benefit of allowing parents to truly know and understand their children. With regards to spiritual teachings, home schooling offers parents the opportunity to teach and guide their children by the principles of their faith. The idea of home schooling one’s children has literally exploded in recent times.
With some of the reasons cited above, it is easy to see why. There are plenty of resources available for parents and students alike, and a quick internet search of the topic will yield you a wealth of information.
Your local library or bookstore will likely have information, as well. Many communities even have local support groups for parents of home schooled children. Why home schooling? Why not??
by: Kim Yonkers
Home schooling has been around for centuries. The beginning of schooling actually started in the home and then moved into outside schoolhouses. A homeschool is where children are taught by a parent or parents without the outside influence or interference of the school system. There are many variations on a homeschool but all fellowships basic rule of no outside interference. Home schooling is legal in all 50 US states with each state having set guidelines and rules about the homeschool process. Getting started in home schooling will require the parent to do some research ahead of time, so they know exactly what laws apply to them and what they need to do to get the curriculum underway.
The reasons parents choose to homeschool their children vary. Some parents site research like home schoolers placed in the 89th to 90th percentile in national standardized testing. Others state their reasons as being able to provide religious studies and building strong family bonds. Other parents look at the quality of homeschool and feel they have more control over the curriculum and content of the materials studied in addition to knowing their children will be safe. There is also the factor of flexibility that draws some families to homeschool. Flexibility not only refers to time, but methods as well. There are many good reasons to homeschool and each family should decide based on the reasons they feel are best for their family.
Getting started in homeschool involves quite a bit of research and studying before homeschool even begins. Parents looking to home school their child or children need to first find local and state home school groups. These groups will be able to provide you the best information on home schooling in your state. You can also go online and find homeschool websites where you can discuss anything relating to home schooling. They can offer you wealth's of information and help. The more you research and talk to others about homeschool the more you will be able to learn what you want to do in your homeschool curriculum and how to avoid common problems that may come up.
Home schooling is a broad term. There are many techniques that fit under the term home schooling. There are many different styles of home schooling that you can use. The following list describes the most common types of home schooling:
Structured - This works like a public school, in that, it follows a schedule throughout the day. For example, math would be done at a certain time, English at another and so on.
Interest-initiated- This approach is based on what is happening at the current time. For example, if it is snowing, you may chose to revolve the days curriculum around snow or if someone in your family has chickenpox, you may wish to do studies on that disease. This can be very unstructured or structured depending on your choices.
Learning-style- This method is based on each child's learning style
Philosophical- Using educational philosophies and studies to mold a curriculum is the basis for this method.
Accommodating- For families with special needs this approach works around those needs.
Community- Using outside groups and learning areas to teach the children is what this method is about.
These are just some of the methods used in home schooling. Some people may find a mixture of these works best for them. Home schooling is all about tailoring the process to the child, so do the research and find the methods that work best for your family.
by: Jay Moncliff
An ever growing number of thoughtful parents are concerned about the status of public schools in many cites across North America. At the same time, a good number of families are struggling to make ends meet. They simply do not have excess funds available to send their children to private schools. One solution that many families are embracing is home schooling. With each passing school year, more and more families in North America -- indeed, in many countries around the world -- are electing the home schooling for their children.
There are some definite benefits and specific drawbacks to choosing home schooling for your children. Turning to the positive elements of home schooling first, chief amongst them is the fact that parents have greater control over the education of their children.
One of the more significant complaints frequently expressed about both public and private schools is the lack of input and control a parent has over the education of his or her child or children. While there are certain educational standards that must be met when it comes to home schooling, a parent has a significant degree of discretion over how his or her child or children will be taught.
In addition to more control over the educational process, most parents who are involved in the home schooling of their children believe that their children are obtaining a far better course of education. Many of these parents simply believe that public schools are not up to muster and that home schooling ensures that their children will be properly educated.
Of course, when contrasting home schooling with the private school alternative, educating your children at home is significantly less expensive. The tuition costs and other fees associated with most private schools continue to increase each and every year. As a result, many families simply have been priced out of the private school market all together.
People who are involved in home schooling believe that education children at home works to develop a stronger bond between parents and children. The very fact that children will be spending more time with their parents because of being schooled in the home enriches the relationship between the generations.
There are some drawbacks to home schooling as well. The primary complaint that some education experts have in regard to home schooling is based on the need for children to interact socially with other children. These experts maintain that one of the most important components of attending school -- be it in a public or private setting -- are the opportunities for children to interact with each other. These opportunities are more limited when a child is home schooled.
With that said, there are now different organizations and associations that have been formed that bring children who are home schooled together for different activities and events. Home schooling advocates assert that these activities and events allow children who are home schooled ample opportunity to interact with other children their own ages.
Most education analysts believe that the trend towards home schooling will continue onward into the immediate future. These experts believe that an ever growing number of parents are going to elect to educate their children at home as an alternative to problematic public schools and expensive private schools.
by: Colin P
The Benefit of Home Schooling - 8 Reasons to Educate Your Child at Home
Making the decision to home school is, on the face of it, not an easy one. There are many questions that need to be asked, and answered, before you can take this very significant step in your child's education. What can influence the decision is an idea of some of the benefits of home schooling.
So here are some things to think of.
1. Your child will get one to one attention with you. The issues associated with large class sizes will be gone forever.
2. Noone knows your child better than you, so you can tailor the lessons to suit your child. That will be something that could never happen in a conventional class room.
3. If your child is someone who is particularly susceptible to peer pressure, then home schooling can alleviate the problem. With your child completely under your control, you not only dictate the curricular activities, but the friends and social elements of their day.
4. Family life can return to how it should be. No more strangers passing at the breakfast table.
5. Many children get wrongly labeled with 'learning difficulties' when all that they needed was a different approach. If your child falls into this category, you will be best placed to evaluate your child's needs and requirements.
6. Scientific studies indicate that home schooled children can come out ahead in every measurement. Other factors may affect this of course, but the indications are that home schooled children achieve more academic success than their traditionally schooled counterparts.
7. Research also indicates that home schooled children actually have better social skills than traditionally schooled children. This rather flies in the face of most people's beliefs.
8. Although not a statistic that should affect your decision making, every child taken out of the state controlled education system actually saves the tax payer around $9000 per pupil per year.
Whilst it is not a task to be undertaken lightly, there are compelling reasons for educating your child at home. It can be argued of course that the benefit of home schooling will not be so strong for all children, but equally, there are many who could benefit significantly from home tutoring.
by: Charlie Cory
Help is on the way!
Many cities have parent co-ops to help share resources. Check with your local library to see where and when your local home schooling group meets. Sharing books and resources with other parents is an excellent, low cost option.
What if your child is smarter than you?
I
t’s a scary thought, isn’t it? But don’t feel bad – be proud of the great job that you’ve done so far. A great resource of your ‘advanced student’ is to tap into the online home schooling resources. There are curriculums that can be purchased and completed online. Some will provide textbooks as well as standard home schooling products. Another option is to take classes that can be held in a virtual classroom, students can use a web cam to participate or they can simply use lecture based courses online.
Should you consider public or private school instead?
Many parents feel that during the high school years, education at home is too difficult. They consider sending their child to public high school. But, this can be a difficult and troublesome transition for your teenager. The environment in a public high school can be anything but rewarding or inviting to a child who has been home schooled up until now. A private school may be better, but still has draw backs including cost. There are still the problems with your child being ‘the new kid’ at school. New friends, new teachers, new expectations are all anxiety producing for your child.
What else can I do?
If you feel over-whelmed about home schooling your senior high school student and don’t want to consider public or private high school – what else can you do? Consider your network of fellow parents who home school. What are you best at? What are their strengths? There may be a way to trade skills with other parents. A parent who has skills and interests in high school educating may be willing to teach your child along with their child in trade for you teaching one of their children who is younger. The double bonus here is added socialization for both high school students.
Post Secondary Option
Another resource for your ‘advanced student’ is the post secondary option at your local college or junior college. This has great advantages for both you and your student. Your child won’t be branded as ‘the new kid’ – everyone at college is new. Many times you don’t pay college tuition for the classes that your child takes. Your child receives high school credit and enjoys the socialization and mental stimulation that advanced classes can bring. It’s a win – win for both of you!
by: Beth Gabriel
You Control the Environment
The major advantage to home schooling is that you control the environment. You choose the curriculum, you choose the pace. If your child is slow to understanding a concept, you have the freedom to allow the extra time your child needs to completely understand the topic. There just isn’t this level of individualism in public school. Public school is equally hard on the under achiever who feels lost when the rest of the class moves on and for the over achiever who is bored because they grasped the concept long before the rest of the class. At home you can vary the pace to give both types of students the freedom they need to succeed.
Most public schools are overcrowded with 30 or more students in a classroom. The shear level of noise and commotion with this many students in one room makes learning difficult. With home schooling, you control the noise level and can limit the number of interruptions in your child’s day.
Many parents are opting for a Christian home schooling curriculum to reinforce their values and morals. Public schools cannot teach religion and may not teach the moral values that are important to you. At home, you get to decide when to discuss sex education with your child in a private setting. In public school, sex ed is often taught in phy-ed or health class in a large group setting with lots of snickering and embarrassing comments. ‘One size fits all’ sex ed. Are your values being taught? Probably not.
Home schooling is a great answer for parents who want a stronger math or science background for their child. Whatever it is you want your child to learn, there is curriculum available that the home school experience can provide. Many students learn best with tactile, hands on learning. Most public schools do not have the funds to provide hands on learning to children. Through home schooling programs, you can tailor your program to fit your child’s style of learning.
These are just the beginning of the benefits that a home schooling program can offer your child!
Brought to you by www.Help-For-Home-School-Moms.info and www.Home-School-101.info, your best resource for all your home school needs.
by: Beth Gabriel
Enter a classroom in any abacus center in India and you will see children busy with something that looks like a toy - tiny brown beads compiled neatly in columns. On the wall is propped a similar toy, though bigger with large, shiny yellow beads.
The teacher calls out a complex calculation, almost like an open challenge. A little boy, barely seven, comes forward and recites a seemingly funny rhyme. He also moves the yellow beads up and down and gets the answer down pat. No furious adding, counting or subtracting! Amazed?
Welcome to the world of abacus education, where rigid arithmetic takes a backseat and visuals and imagination gain center-stage. Here children learn to use the abacus, an ancient Chinese invention, to solve basic arithmetic sums with speed and accuracy. Institutes, which offer abacus education, claim that they use arithmetic as a tool to develop mind skills, memory and lateral thinking abilities.
Popular in Asian countries like Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, abacus education is relatively new in India. But several entrepreneurs have been quick to tap the business potential of this non-formal education tool.
Scientific theories associate the left hemisphere of the brain with numerical and academic abilities, and the right hemisphere with creativity and intelligence. Proponents of abacus education claim that while formal education focuses merely on left-brain development, the abacus brings about "whole brain development".
"If the brain is not developed at an early age, one's mental abilities can start declining by 20 years of age. That's why we must tap them young," says Dhaval Shrimankar, CEO, NurtureMinds.com.
The brain gyms - as these institutes are called - are not stand-alone entities, but, instead, operate through a network of local franchises in urban and semi-urban areas. The reach and popularity of abacus education can be gauged from the burgeoning franchisee network.
Today, the same innovative education is available in the US and Canada. The system has taken the home-school communities by the storm. Private centers similar to Score or Kumon are springing up from west coast to the east coast.
As an alternative to investment for a franchise, books are directly sold to the interested customers. Many of the patrons take up on roles of tutors as well as franchise owners.
How does Abacus work?
The abacus consists of 13 vertical rods, separated into two sections by a horizontal bar. Each rod contains one bead in the upper section and four beads in the lower section.
When given a sum, the child recites a rhyme corresponding to the kind of calculation involved. This also makes learning fun and easy. Simultaneously, the child moves the required beads up and down. The position of each bead signifies a specific numerical value. At the end of the rhyme, the position of the beads touching the horizontal bar, gives the answer.
As the course advances, the abacus is taken away and the child is encouraged to picture the abacus mentally to come up with the answer. After sufficient training, the child becomes adept at moving the beads mentally and no longer needs to recite the rhyme aloud to arrive at the answer.
by: Dhaval Shrimankar
For many of us who don’t particularly like the public school system, we think that home schooling may be the perfect answer. You can teach your child the things you want him to know in a one on one environment, and you will be there to ensure he knows the material completely before moving on to the next subject. You will assign his homework, and grade it to be certain he thoroughly understands and remembers what you are teaching him in class. You don’t have to worry about him being exposed to illnesses and bad attitudes that often run amok in public and private schools alike. Considering all of these reasons why would you even think about not home schooling your child?
The previous information about home schooling is what is so often published to try to sway you to home school your children, but are they being up front and honest, telling you everything that you need to know? Of course, many of you already know that the answer to that question is no.
You need to be aware of the bad things that come along with home schooling, so that you can make the best decision for both you and your child. You need to remember that your child’s academic success or failure will weigh solely on your shoulders, so if you slip, if you don’t assign homework, or if you don’t make him do his homework, or settle down long enough to learn, then you are to blame. You have to be certain that your child stays on the same academic level as his peers, and if he isn’t do whatever it takes to get and keep him there.
One of the good and possibly bad parts of home schooling is that you get to spend almost all of your time together with your children. This is good in that you develop a closer relationship, and you know what is going on, without having to rely on someone else to nurture and teach your child. The bad part of this is that when your child is having a bad day, or you are having a bad day, you can’t take him to school, go somewhere and relax, and then pick him up later. You have to deal with the tantrums and bad behavior all on your own, so you need to make sure that you have enough patience to do so.
You also need to remember that teaching your child will become your full time job. Your husband will become the sole source of your family’s income, and you will have to learn how to cut corners to stretch your budget as far as possible. If you can’t live on that budget, or if it will cause undue stress and strain on your marriage, then home schooling may not be the best route to take at this time.
You can’t be a pushover for your child; you have to make him do his lessons and his homework, no matter how much he tries to convince you otherwise. No one loves your child like his parents, but you have to be strong enough to make him do the things that are best for him, even if he doesn’t realize it at the time. Homework Recommended Products
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by: Aldwin Pet
Homeschooling has become a popular type of education in the past few years. Parents can educate their child in their own homes, free to set their own study schedule and education curriculum.
If you are planning to homeschool your child, it is important you know the legal requirements for homeschooling in your state before proceeding.
Currently in the united states, homeschooling is legal in all 50 states. However each state has their own requirements and guidelines. The best way to determine the legal requirements would be to contact your local school official for more information.
Most states requires parents who wish to adopt homeschooling to file a letter of intent to their local community school. Some states also requires parents to attend a series of lessons organize by the school before they can begin homeschooling. There are also some states that require the lesson plans to be submitted for approval by the school before you can commence homeschooling.
Some states also require children who are homeschooling to take test or evaluations conducted by qualified teachers. Some require the tests to be conducted on an annual basis. However, the tests are not compulsory but is encouraged.
These are safeguards in place to ensure the standard of education for homeschoolers is maintained.
For example in California, there are 3 different options for homeschooling. Homeschoolers can be part of an independent public homeschooling programs. The 2nd option is to get a certified homeschooling tutor and the last option is to enroll into a private school.
If you have a large homeschooling community in your area, the community can also form a private school for homeschoolers.
The graduate guidelines are also different with each state. Some states have no graduation requirements. Other states require the homeschooler to take tests before they are graduated.
Since the homeschooling requirement for each state is different, it is best to consult with your local school for more information before proceeding.
by: Ricky Lim
A practical alternative or replacement to schooling institutions is Home schooling. In conformity with your state laws concerning this kind of education, parents teach their children to study and learn themselves.
Parents have different explanations as well as justifications as to why they want their children to be educated through home schooling. Parents are concerned regarding the safety of their wards, as well as the quality of education that provided in public schools. The costs of private schooling and the struggle that the child undergoes to keep up with the entire class is one of the major factors in favor of such alternatives.
Most parents feel defenseless when their kids are labeled as ‘slow learners’ by their peers, or other such emotional baggage.
In a large class, usually teachers have limited options and remedies to act on such children who might be “slow learners” compared to others. This leads to the need for tutoring, where they are provided the attention they seek, and can learn at “their own pace”, without having to compete with others children even while maximum attention is being paid by the teacher.
Again, a student who is very enthusiastic about learning and who generally does well in class is a good candidate for home schooling, since he can successfully juggle the absence of interacting with his friends and encouragement for excellent work that are components of a regular classroom.
A home schooling teacher must be have suitably eligibility, which suggests that he or she has at least had a “high school education” to educate lower elementary students.
The parent or teacher must be inspired and encouraged enough to educate the students, since home schooling entails hard work as well as rewards; it is, nevertheless, a satisfying job, when the results are for you to see.
Parent or teachers should be available for each day of schooling, there should be no interruption due to daily chores, and dedication to the program is a must.
Plan what the child needs:
The child will need a certain study area that is quiet, with no disturbances at all. Study time should be well scheduled and well planned.
Have a focused attitude towards the child; this is essential, as your child realizes that you are committed and enjoy your time together rather than acting irritable or unsatisfied with your child’s limitations.
A reward is a must to encourage and stimulate your child to create an affirmative emotional and informative experience. You should provide your child with basic school materials such as textbooks, encyclopedia, globe, and dictionaries. Try out the resources the internet provides as an addition to your home schooling program; such information is forever updated.
Store up on educational games of different varieties, art materials and supplies and create an environment for reading books. After your home school hours the kids can do crafts, play games, and read books as and when they like.
How do you define your “home school period?”
To begin the process of lesson planning, you have to determine a timetable or what is the “school year for your program”
Begin, by knowing the total number of “school days” in a formal school.
While determining this there are two main factors that one should understand. Firstly, the certain number of teaching or tutoring days as obliged by the State you are resident of. Usually, 180 days are needed, although some States require more and some less. Consequently, this is the minimum number of days recommended for your program.
Another factor is the total number of days necessary to complete the longest type of curriculum planned by you for the coming academic session. When the particular “longest” session necessitates less than the lowest number of teaching days, then it need not be a reason for outlining your home school yearly curriculum.
If it should need more than the lowest or minimum days, its time will conclude the time span for your year of home school. For example, if your State requires a minimum of 180 days of teaching, you discover in your curriculum, for example that algebra, will need 200 days of teaching to complete. Then 200 days would suffice for your home school year.
Once you have finalized and resolved which days are more, than that of the lowest number of your State's or your longest duration of program, then you should estimate the “actual number of days” of your home school year. That will then be the total number of days that your lessons should be based on.
by: Phil Kuermam
When people consider teaching their children at home, without any structured curriculum, they may think that the home schooling costs will be able to be kept down to a reasonable level. But this is not necessarily the case at all. If you try to ensure that your children get a state of the art education so that they can compete on a level footing with regular school goers, the costs can skyrocket. In actual fact schooling a child at home can turn out to be quite costly.
A computer, current textbooks, course materials, all these things cost some amount of money, also there are extra costs for any tutors the parent decides to bring in to teach subjects that they cannot teach themselves, such as science or higher level maths. These costs can be minimised when several children are able to reuse the materials.
Another point to consider is that the requirement of having one of the parents tied to the home on a full time basis can deprive the family of an extra wage packet. This can, of course have a substantial impact on the family’s income.
Having a membership in a public library, various outside activity classes and other cultural events can also help in keeping the costs down. One idea is to barter expertise or services. For example, the parent of a nine year old has dancing classes; her daughter gets drawing classes in return.
However much it costs, the devotees of home schooling state that the benefits more than outweigh the drawbacks. When you are in control of what knowledge your child receives, and what subjects he or she should be taught and to what level, it can give you loads of freedom and a lot of power. The children and also the parents can benefit greatly from this mutually enriching experience.
by: James Hunaban
