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A Home for Homeschoolers

If you’re looking for a homeschooling forum home, look no more. You’ve found it. 

Welcome to A Home for Homeschoolers!  We’ve been in existence for less than a month, and we’ve already undergone three major overhauls.If you’re looking for the forums, you’ll want to update your bookmarks to point here:forum  In the coming days, the front page will be expanded to include access to blogs written by forum members and other great content.  Keep an eye on the forum announcements for details.   

homeschool-socialization

Tips on How to Homeschool and Socialize Properly

There are many homeschooling and socialization programs available for kids. Parents can find great programs that will help teach a child to be more socially interactive and to interact with peers in various settings. Some homeschooling and socialization classes concentrate on particular activities. Others concentrate on certain topics like foreign languages, math, science, reading, music, and other classes. Parents can also choose from regular school activities and volunteer work.

It is important for kids to learn about different people, cultures, and beliefs. Learning about these things when they are young helps them learn about the world when they get older. Most of the time, parents choose activities that their children will enjoy and that will give them a chance to learn about new things. Some parents like to incorporate activities into the curriculum so that the children learn about the activities. For instance, there could be a trip to the zoo or to the park.

Another option parents have is joining religious or community activities. These activities give children opportunities to meet new friends. When the parents join in these activities, it gives them an opportunity to practice their religion or community without having to participate in the activities themselves. In addition, the activities give parents and children a chance to learn about another culture.

Homeschooling and socialization do not always go hand in hand. It can be difficult for parents to find the time to homeschool their children because they have other responsibilities. Many parents also find that they do not know how to homeschooling and socialize properly. There are many tips for parents to learn how to effectively homeschool their child and to homeschool and socialize with other children effectively. Here are some tips for parents to use:

  • Set realistic goals. Before you start homeschooling and socializing, you need to set some goals. Write down what you want to accomplish for your child when he or she goes to school. Write down both good and bad habits you want to correct in your child. Also, write down what you expect your child to learn while he or she homeschooling and socializing.
  • Choose an appropriate homeschooling curriculum. To learn how to homeschool and socialize properly, you need to choose a curriculum based on what your child needs. If your child has special needs, look for a curriculum that addresses those needs. Also, if your child is concentrating on Math, choose a curriculum that addresses math so your child will learn how to apply mathematical concepts to his or her daily life. Look for other options if you cannot get a curriculum that addresses all of your child’s specific needs.
  • Be patient. Homeschooling and socialization can be very hard on children who are new to the process. Some children may also be embarrassed by their lack of prior experience. Keep in mind though that you, as the parent, are a very important part of your child’s learning. If you do not want to participate in homeschooling and socialization because you do not think your child will learn how to use his or her skills in appropriate ways, then you are doing your child a disservice by depriving him or her of learning.
  • Be consistent. One of the most effective tips on how to homeschool and socialize properly is to be consistent in your efforts. Homeschooling and socialization can be difficult tasks. It can be easy to get distracted. Be sure to get enough sleep, keep a schedule, and take care of any obligations you may have that could potentially get in the way of your homeschooling and socialization.

mom-kid-draw

Quantity Versus Quality For Homeschoolers

Ever notice how “the good stuff” seems to be in smaller supply than the regular stuff? This seems to be a common lesson in life. There are a lot of ordinary days, but only an occasional great day. There are a lot of regular episodes of your favorite television show, but only a rare storyline that you actually remember the next week. Many, many good books are published, but only a few classics…

The quality things in life tend to be a bit harder to come by, don’t they? There’s a reason for that. The quality things take time to develop. They don’t just happen by chance. More often, we find “filler” in life. That happens in dog food, pasta dishes, plot lines in movies, junk mail in our mailboxes, and even in education. Homeschool families have the unique opportunity to focus on the “good stuff” in their homeschooling in order to break this pattern. The expression that comes to mind is that sometimes you have to sacrifice the good for the sake of the great!

Take for example a recent trip to my grocery store. I purchased my regular box of granola cereal, “Wild Oat” flavored, but I also saw a new flavor with nuts and berries added, so I bought one of those to try, too. When I got home and put them on the shelf, what I found was that the regular box was a 17-ounce box. The box with the extra goodies was 13.5 ounces. They were the same price. The regular box had some extra filler in it, but the good stuff was valued higher. Can you guess which flavor I like better? Or, guess which flavor I will go back to next time? The good one, of course!

Homeschool families need to look at this analogy for their homeschool program. Take the time to develop a quality program, based on the “good stuff” and not on filler. Focus on the core learning and academic foundations that will give your students a strong, competitive application for colleges. Focus on teaching-learning skills so that your students will be able to teach themselves anything and know how to process information. Too many homeschool families provide their children with meaningless exercises or workbooks that spoon-feed information rather than teaching children to think and analyze information on their own.

Homeschooling families have an obligation to provide educational substance in their programs. Math, Science, Literature, Grammar, and Social Sciences should be given prime attention in the development and skills training of your children. This can be done in engaging ways, but these core subjects must be given priority over those things that only fill up our lesson plans with numerous activities yet don’t add the same value. This will take your time and your energy. It is a demanding role. But, if you take this role very seriously, you can create a quality homeschool program that will be worth the higher value.

Like my cereal, imagine the future generations you can impact if your children grow up to have such strong foundations and solid skills that they want to return to that type of quality education for their families. Many things can be good to do, but not all things will be great. Go for the great in your homeschool program! Give your children that kind of value so that they can reap the benefits of a sound education for their future.

spider-web-math

Top 4 HomeSchool Math Games That Make Learning Fun

Playing games can be fun and math-friendly, and can help at any grade level to happily and painlessly hone math skills. Most classic, well-known games can easily be adapted for math practice. Buzz, Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, to name just a few, can be transformed into math skill-building versions. Have fun adapting some family favorites; here are a few to start with:

1-2-3 SPIDERWEB Grade 1 (counting, skip counting)

1) Wind bulky yarn (rainbow’s nice) or soft clothesline into a ball, tying a loop at the end.

2) Players (at least 5) sit cross-legged in a large circle with one of the players holding the ball.

3) That player starts by saying the first number, rolling the ball (while holding on to the looped end) to another player.

4) The yarn or rope is held by each player who then rolls the ball to the next player while saying the next number.

5) Play continues until the ball is unwound and a “spiderweb” pattern is formed.

6) The ball is then rewound as the last player rolls the ball to the next to the last player, following the pattern and either counting the same number sequence backward or starting a new sequence.

1-2-3 BUZZ Grades 1 and up (counting, skip counting, times tables)

1) Players sit in a circle and call out numbers in turn.

2) Start by counting numbers in order up to 100.

3) Move on to skip counting 2s, 5s, and 10s up to 100 by saying the word BUZZ in place of those numbers (for 2s: 1-BUZZ-3-BUZZ-5-BUZZ, for 5s: 1-2-3-4-BUZZ-6-7-8-9-BUZZ, etc.

4) Begin with the lower and progress to the higher times tables as they are learned, by saying BUZZ in place of those numbers.

5) Anyone who misses a number or a BUZZ is out, and the last player wins.

B-I-N-G-O Grades 2 and up (number recognition and ordering)

1) Use small squares of paper to write numbers 1-75 one on each square, with the following letters: 1-15/B, 16-30/I, 31-45/N, 46-60/G, 61-75/O.

2) Make a BINGO card for each of the players with 5 rows of 5 squares, with one of the letters in the word B-I-N-G-O written at the top of each column.

3) Each player chooses 5 random numbers from the groups for each letter, and writes them in the 5 spaces below that letter, in numerical order.

4) The center space (the 3rd one under N) is FREE.

5) Each player is given 25 markers (buttons, stones, glass gems).

6) The 75 numbered and lettered squares are placed in a bowl, and numbers are called, one by one.

7) The first player to spell BINGO, across, down, or diagonally, wins. Fill up all 25 spaces for an extra challenge!!

MAGIC SQUARE TIC-TAC-TOE Grades 3 and up (patterning and addition)

1) Draw 2 parallel vertical lines crossed by 2 parallel horizontal lines to create the classic 9-square Tic-Tac-Toe grid.

2) Assign the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8 to one player, and the odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 to the other.

3) The player with odds goes first, placing one of the odd numbers in any square.

4) The other player does the same with one of the even numbers.

5) The object is to construct a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row that adds up to 15.

6) The first player to do this wins or the game ends in a draw when all squares are filled.

Favorite card games are fun to transform and play with as well. Math can be exciting and interesting, and playing games is a great way to keep math skills sharp!

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