Monday, June 2, 2014

July Teaching Themes for Homeschool


What is every kid’s dream July teaching theme?  How about chocolate!  July 7th is Chocolate Day, a great way to teach your children about the botanical nature of chocolate, the geographical location of most cacao plantations and how it is grown, processed and transported.  And if you want to be a homeschool hero, don’t forget to let the students sample the many ways chocolate can be used; from the cacao bean to cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, and the many different grades of chocolate bars.

Although many July teaching themes for homeschool revolve around Independence Day, I wanted to give you a few suggestions for some off-the-beaten-track themes.  Like National Recreation and Parks month.  What a great reason to explore the national parks in your local area and focus on identifying local flora and fauna.

One of my favorite fun July teaching themes revolves round July 10th — Don’t Step on a Bee Day.  Although it might seem a little silly, it is a great homeschool focus, as bees are fast disappearing from our gardens due to pests like varroa mites and hive die-off.  If our bees disappear, over 75% of the food we eat will go with them — a frightening prospect.  A July teaching unit on bees and bee society will not only introduce your students to the importance of our sweet insect friend, but hopefully foster a love for them as well!

Friday, May 2, 2014

June Teaching Themes for Homeschool


Wanna heat up the summer for your homeschool students?

Check out this June teaching theme — Hot Air Balloon Day is June 5th.  This is a great way to incorporate a physical sciences and meteorology into your curriculum.  Have the children construct a “lighter than air” balloon from materials around the house.  PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) offers a wonderful site dedicated to hot air balloons and races.  The site includes teacher resources, interviews and a virtual balloon flight.  Additionally, many communities offer hot air balloon rides that can serve as a reward for the successful completion of this unit.

Now that you’ve heated it up, cool it down with a June teaching theme for your homeschool that focuses on the wonders of frozen dessert.  It’s National Chocolate Ice Cream Day on June 7th!  This is a great June teaching theme for your homeschool that focuses on chemical science. Ice has to absorb energy in order to melt, changing the phase of water from a solid to a liquid. When you use ice to cool the ingredients for ice cream, the energy is absorbed from the ingredients and from the outside environment (like your hands, if you are holding the baggie of ice!). When you add salt to the ice, it lowers the freezing point of the ice, so even more energy has to be absorbed from the environment in order for the ice to melt. This makes the ice colder than it was before, which is how your ice cream freezes.

So, whether you are running hot or cold this summer, there is a June teaching theme for you!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Summer Field Trips for Homeschoolers – Part Three


The final part of the Summer Field Trip Ideas for Homeschoolers series will focus on fun activities.

Although many of these activities will have an associated cost, they will definitely score big points with your children, one of the reasons they are on our list of summer field trips for homeschoolers.

These activities can range from miniature golf courses and rock climbing walls to horseback riding, sailing and roller skating.

First, determine if you want your summer field trip for your homeschoolers to focus on physical exercise or just plain fun.  If you choose exercise, think about kayaking, skating, boating, waterskiing, horseback riding and, for older children, even scuba diving!

If fun is more what you are looking for, consider water parks, amusement parks, and state fairs.  Many parks and state fairs offer a day that is discounted to the local population or offered with the purchase of meals or drinks at local restaurants.  Sometimes even “big box” stores such as Wal-Mart will have discount coupons at their check-out lanes for local events.

Remember, for the most successful summer field trip for your homeschooler, call ahead to determine hours and availability of food and drinks and, most importantly, have fun!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Summer Field Trips for Homeschoolers – Part Two


This second part of the Summer Field Trip Ideas for Homeschoolers series will focus on plays and performances.

One of the very best summer field trip ideas for homeschoolers is a place where they can get an up close look at the performing arts.  Check your local listings for theater arts groups, puppet theaters, dance theaters, and auditoriums.  Many agencies that promote local performing arts are happy to offer discounted tickets to educational groups.

When choosing performing arts as a summer field trip idea for your homeschoolers, please keep in mind appropriateness of the subject matter for the age of children you are escorting.  Some performances that would be perfectly understandable to teens might go right over the heads of an elementary school group.

Finally, remember the musical arts when planning your list of summer field trip ideas for your homeschoolers.  Many towns have local symphonies and most towns even boast a youth symphony that might be instrumental in getting your children interested in playing an instrument of their own.  Youth symphonies in particular are amenable to allowing homeschoolers and other groups a more in-depth look into the “behind-the-scenes” activities of a symphony, making them a veritable must-have on your summer field trip list!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Summer Field Trips for Homeschoolers



Some great ideas for summer field trips ideas for homeschoolers will have them enjoying themselves as well as bringing joy to others.  I always like to ask my homeschoolers to get involved in at least one community service field trip project each summer.

One of the best summer field trips for homeschoolers for community service purposes is a trip to a local retirement or nursing home.  If it is a small home, the children might be able to visit with individual residents and read to them, play a board game, or play music (if they play an instrument).   Many of the residents of these homes have little or no contact with the “outside world” and are longing for a visit and some personalized attention.  Sometimes, they do not even have knowledge of the current events in the town or world around them.  They love hearing the news from children, just be mindful to share only positive happenings from the community to brighten their day.

Another way a homeschool group can make a retirement home visit into a great summer field trip is to arrange to do a group project with the residents.  Some activities that are always a hit with the residents include sing-a-longs, exercise sessions, and watching the children perform a play.

With both elderly residents and homeschoolers sharing and caring for one another, I think there is no doubt that this summer field trip for your homeschoolers might just be the most rewarding trip of the year!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

May Teaching Themes for Homeschool


May teaching themes for homeschool are so abundant that it is hard to choose just a few.  In fact, it might be fun to choose some of the more unusual events in the month for your May teaching theme.  A great example is Eliza Doolittle Day.  Literary buffs will remember Eliza as the Cockney protagonist in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.  This is a fabulous way to introduce older children to this literary gem, while younger children can watch My Fair Lady to get the idea of the story.

A interesting May teaching theme for your homeschool is the story of the Wright brothers.  Their airplane was patented on May 22 and changed the world of transportation forever.  Trips to aviation parks, movies, or air shows would be a wonderful adjunct to this theme.

Lewis and Clark began their fateful expedition on May 14th, which presents the opportunity for an active, outdoorsy May teaching theme. Engage children in their adventure by having them create their own specimen box and take a hiking trip to find new flora and fauna to identify.

Round out your May teaching themes with a service project.  May 30th is National Senior Health and Fitness Day.  Volunteer at a nursing or retirement home and lead the seniors in gentle exercises or outdoor games.  A slow, gentle walk for those who are ambulatory will leave both your students and the seniors rejuvenated and happy.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Summer Writing Ideas for Children


Summer doesn’t exactly conjure up images of pen and paper, but there are many summer writing ideas for children that will keep them excited about the season.

1. Dream Vacation

Search the internet for photographs of interesting places and have your child choose one that, if they could,  they would like to visit during summer vacation.  Have them write about their imaginary travel there; describing the people, the weather and the sights.  They can even invent an imaginary place from the photograph and name it, map it, and write about it!

2.  Weather or Not

Another great prompt to keep summer pens busy uses an imaginary situation. What if the mythological gods of weather decided to remove summer from the rotation of seasons?  What would happen to the other seasons? To crops and businesses? To people’s lifestyles?  How would things change in general?  Would they be better, or worse?

3.  Some Like It Hot

One really interesting summer writing idea for children is the notion that some people love sultry, hot, humid days while others can’t wait for the first snowfall.  Which one does your child prefer?  Why?  What would they do if there was only hot (or only cold) weather?

All of these summer writing ideas for children are geared toward fun, imaginative, easy writing — a perfect formula to keep kids engaged and interested all summer long.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Benefits of Summer Homeschool – Part III


One of the most significant benefits to summer homeschool is that there is a greater opportunity for creativity in lessons.  When lessons are creative and the atmosphere is stress-free, children are most likely to develop a love of learning for it’s own sake.

During summer homeschool, lessons can be planned around fun activities that are only available in the summer — farmer’s markets, outdoor festivals, and water activities to name just a few.

You can even turn the family vacation into a lesson effortlessly if you plan ahead.  For example, a trip to Oregon’s Mount Hood or Yellowstone Park can morph into a great lesson on volcanoes, National Parks, ecology, botany or even conservation.  Getting to and from your destination opens up opportunity to discuss geography, transportation issues, logistics and even math.  A trip to the beach can encompass marine biology, erosion, weather patterns and more — just one of the benefits of summer homeschool not seeming like school at all!

Finally, the greatest benefit of summer homeschool is just keeping those imaginations firing all year round.  Children are natural learners and any opportunity we have as parents and teachers to foster their curiosity and inquisitiveness should not be passed up.

Give summer homeschooling a try this summer and watch your kids’ imaginativeness and inventiveness grow by leaps and bounds!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Benefits of Summer Homeschool – Part II


Do you remember when you were younger and realized on the first day of school in the fall that you had managed to forget just about everything you’d been taught the previous year?  One of the benefits of summer homeschool is that kids remain on top of their game all year round.  Not only does this mean increased retention of material, but it also means that you don’t have to spend a quarter of the year in review.  You can move straight on to the new stuff!  This is a plus for students who usually balk at re-learning.

An additional benefit to summer homeschool is that if your child does need extra help in a particular subject you have ample time to concentrate on helping him master it without stressing that he will fall behind.  This fosters confidence and a love of learning in the student and greatly reduces stress on both teacher and pupil.

An important benefit to summer homeschool is reduced cost overall.  If you don’t have to spend time reviewing in the fall, then you don’t need all those review textbooks, workbooks and worksheets.  You can just concentrate on new material!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Benefits of Summer Homeschool – Part I


You can hear it now…”Awww mom, do we have to?”  Even though the kids may be resistant at first, the whole family will discover that there are many benefits to summer homeschool.  First of all, year-round school is not just for homeschoolers.  Many public school systems are seeing the value of continuous schooling and implementing courses of study the extend through the summer.  One benefit of  homeschool in the summer is less pressure on teacher and students to complete curricula that may need more practice and the ability to schedule more breaks (read: vacations!) throughout the year.

Another great benefit to summer homeschool is that days are structured.  How many times have you been presented with a child in the throes of summer doldrums who has “nothing to do”.  This doesn’t happen when you have an active school plan for the summer months, but since it is summer you can be casual enough to suspend lessons for a day at the pool with friends when the mood strikes.

Planning lessons with a summery spin or incorporating plenty of fun breaks into the plan helps to ease kids into the idea of schooling year round and gives them a chance to have fun as well. Giving summer lessons a try this year will allow you to experience the many benefits of summer homeschool and add a new dimension to your lesson planning.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Summer Learning Field Trips


One of the pluses of home education is the ability to plan and take many educational field trips. Field trips are great tools for learning since all children are visual learners and there is nothing like a field trip to combine visual learning with tactile and aural experiences to totally involve your children in the learning experience.

Summer learning field trips are a great way to get together with other homeschoolers to have fun and still incorporate learning.  A simple trip to the zoo can be incorporated into a lesson on biology, genetics, and scientific study.

Another great idea for summer learning field trips is to visit a location consistent with a historical event you may be studying.  There are lots of war museums, medical museums and other historic venues that can easily fit into a course of study.

One of my favorite destinations for summer learning field trips is the art museum.  Casual summer learning lends itself well to the study of art and a trip to an museum followed by an afternoon in the park drawing or sketching makes for a fun afternoon.

If you find museums too stuffy for your summer learning field trip, consider an art festival, Renaissance fair or cultural festival to add to your itinerary.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Why Homeschoolers Should Break for Summer


Previous posts have concentrated on the benefits of continuing to school throughout the summer.  It wouldn’t be fair not to present the other side of the coin for consideration.

There are wonderful reasons why homeschoolers should break for summer.  First of all, most of us have grown up having summers off and we all have managed to become responsible, educated adults.  There is no reason why a child that takes the summer off from schooling will be at a disadvantage in the fall.

Best of all, when homeschoolers take a break for summer they are able to catch up on some of the activities they may have been missing during the year.  Simple ones, like getting to stay up late or sleeping in might mean a lot to your student.

Many think homeschoolers should break for the summer because they don’t want to miss out on “summer vacation”, that idyllic time of year we all looked forward to as children and consider a very memorable part of our childhood.

One practical reason why homeschoolers should break for summer is that summer schooling makes you out of sync with friends and neighbors who attend traditional schools.  It can be quite difficult to teach with the doorbell ringing every few minutes or kids begging to go out and play!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Wrapping Up the Homeschooling Year – Part II


Your space is organized — what is the next step in wrapping up the homeschooling year?  Time to think about next year’s curriculum and calendar!   Most homeschoolers order their curriculum in the summer and the sooner you get started the less chance you have of experiencing issues with out-of-stock items.  Some homeschool conventions are in early summer, so make plans to attend if you want to get a hands-on feel for what is available.  Otherwise, get online and get your orders placed or go to your local teacher’s store if you are purchasing curriculum from there.

Now take out your calendar and begin looking at next year’s dates.  Children like to know what is on the agenda, so if you can plan your family vacations and out-of-school dates now, the kids can start being mentally prepared for the next year’s events.  Don’t forget to mark down sport and music lessons or any other special affairs that you know your homeschool will be involved in.  Now is also a good time to mark accountability reminders for yourself  – such as filing a Homeschool Affidavit if that is required where you live, signing up for Homeschool Legal Defense Association, checking out a new charter school or completing paperwork for online schools or classes.

Once you’ve wrapped up the homeschooling year, you can look forward to a fun-filled relaxing summer knowing that you will be ready for school in the fall!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Wrapping up the Homeschooling Year – Part I


Wrapping up the homeschooling is an integral and necessary part of the school year and one that will give you a definite head start on the new year.  Homeschoolers that take some time now to organize and tackle vital end-of-the-year tasks will find that starting school in the fall will be a breeze.

Wrapping up the homeschooling year is your chance to start with a clean slate. Gather up old, broken or outdated equipment like broken rulers and crayons, empty tape dispensers or bottles of dried-up glue, dull scissors and electronics like calculators and computers that don’t work.  Folders, school papers and other accumulated paperwork that you don’t need to file can be thrown away as well.  Books and curriculum materials that are not going to be used the following year can be donated to other homeschooling families if you don’t need them for younger children.  Take everything off of your shelves or out of your storage boxes, evaluate it, and either re-shelve, donate or trash it.  Make sure to check other rooms of the house for items that may have migrated out of your school area during the year.

Now that your space is clear you can think about re-stocking.  Prices on supplies are low in August before traditional school opens, but things get picked over quite quickly.  If you are a savvy shopper and watch for sales you can get all of your school supplies ahead of the crowd at the same low prices.  Make a list of things that you need and keep it handy so it’s easy to what you need when you run into a good sale.  Don’t forget about larger things you might need for your classroom like storage cubbies, baskets or bookshelves.  Office furniture often goes on sale in the summer in advance of the school year, so if you need desks or filing cabinets keep your eyes open for a sale.

Once your space is clean, clear and organized you will be ready to take on the next task in wrapping up your homeschooling year.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Save the Earth Writing Prompts


With the push to be more environmentally conscious in the forefront of today’s media comes a plethora of “Save the Earth” writing prompts that can fire the imaginations of your homeschool students.  For younger students, an acrostic poem using some key words (such as “earth”, “environment”, or “green”) would be a great way to get them thinking of ways to help our environment.  Older children will respond well to “Save the Earth” writing prompts that require a little more thought.

One “Save the Earth” writing prompt I particularly like is to ask your students these questions:  If you could design your own house using renewable resources, what would your house be made of?  How would you heat and cool it and what would provide power for appliances? Do you think this could become the house of the future? If so, when do you think this futuristic house will be available to purchase?

If you have a mix of ages in your homeschool, a “Save the Earth” writing prompt on a subject that can be as simple or complex as you wish is a good choice.  An example is trees.  Younger students can read Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem “Trees” and explain what it means to them.  Older children can write an essay on the ways in which we can conserve trees (using digital forms instead of paper, for example) and stop deforestation. You can even let your homeschoolers propose some “Save the Earth” writing prompts of their own, as most children are very attuned to our need to be good stewards to our environment.

Friday, January 17, 2014

A New Day With New Commitments


Today is a new day. The day will bring what I make of it. As another year passes by, I am realizing that I am not getting any younger. Two of my kids are nearly grown to young adulthood. Amazing!

Today, we as a family made a commitment to work on healthier eating habits. It is important in our lives to choose better options in the area of eating. There are so many choices available to us, that are really not the healthiest. Foods can be cooked so quickly, but usually for a price in our health.

My kids were given a notebook today that will record the foods they have eaten, as well as fitness activities done. They were really receptive to the idea. As a mother, I am also recording the same items on a daily basis.

We will take some time to review the entries and then discuss ways that we can improve our eating habits as well as become more active. We are what we make of our day. This includes the choices we make in our eating.

My kids are not really overweight, but they are not really at the most optimal weight for their body frames. They do have room for improvement. We are making this a life lesson as well as a continuous school lesson.

We, as adults, do not realize sometimes how much food is going into our mouths. I believe that at times, this is true with our children. How much do we teach our children about portion control? How many times do they actually look at the amount of fat grams, calories, and fiber intake they consume? Are they thinking about how many servings of fruit each day they are eating?

Our lives are so busy, that simple important lessons lay by the way side. How important is teaching your children about eating properly to you? What can you do to help them be active in their eating choices?

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Dreams and Passions of Homeschool


Homeschooling has been around for ages. Since our country started institutionalizing the education system, for many this option started taking a back seat. The present education system has some disadvantages which are addressed only by homeschooling. One such disadvantage is rigidity of the system. This is well addressed by homeschooling our children. Homeschools provide more flexibility in nature. Homeschool provides a child an independent learning experience, while allowing him to follow his passion.

If a child has a special interest in a particular activity, present day educational systems do not allow him to devote sufficient time to his interests. Take, for example, a child interested in playing tennis. He may be really good at it. But, there will be some restrictions on how much time he can play tennis.

Home school children are given more opportunity to follow their passions. So, it is the responsibility of the parents to give children an environment where they can find their passion and follow it. Providing homeschool options allow students to follow personal interests. This is one of the biggest advantages of homeschooling. If a child knows his passion, homeschooling will provide a system to follow dream. It provides freedom of independent learning.

Homeschooling is particularly suited to those who want to become sports people, artists, or a wide variety of other fields. Who knows what would have happened if Charlie Chaplin was not provided with the independence of homeschooling.

Homeschooling is a great option for families who can commit time to their children. As parents, you have the ability to make a difference in your child’s life.  Are you helping your child to live their passions and dreams?

Monday, January 13, 2014

Using a Homeschool Support Group


Within the earlier times of homeschooling, homeschooling support groups didn’t even exist. Now it’s possible to locate one within nearly all communities within the country. Here include 5 tips to making your groups run more smoothly:

1) Be helpful: Face it, all homeschool mothers are busy. It is unrealistic to believe that one mother could run a household and a whole support group.

2) Encourage everybody to share work load: Occasionally, you’ll have a few people who only wish to come for field trips, as well as group meetings and don’t want to be of assistance in any way. Whereas, a few individuals are more gifted in preparing for field trips, others could still be in charge of transportation, offer food for open houses, monitor younger kids, or do an abundance of additional tasks so all responsibilities could be shared by everyone.

3) Monitor kids: If somebody isn’t available to monitor the kids as parents meet, make certain you check in often with the kids, or have parents take turns checking in on kids.

4) Be prompt: A few days you could make it to the group on time, yet it is really in the ideal interest of a group if everybody arrives on time in order to make the most of the time arranged for the field trip or meeting.

5) Don’t get pulled into an additional resource or curriculum choices because other families are using them successfully: Stick with what you’ve determined for your family and place all curriculum implications upon a list for the following year.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Cost Effective Homeschooling


With available resources directly within your own community, you can homeschool using any budget. Newer homeschoolers oftentimes are concerned with the expense of homeschooling. The fact is homeschooling is as inexpensive or expensive as you make it. Here are three excellent available resources right inside your backyard, or at the most, a brief ride from it:

Book Sales and Libraries

The local library ought to be your initial stop upon the path to low-cost and free opportunities for learning which involve, in addition to books, excellent film and music resources. Go on the Internet and examine your county’s library system site to study about the placement of local libraries, any upcoming events, as well as all of their fantastic Internet services. If you do not own internet accessibility, the library usually offers this at no charge. Many libraries currently possess their own used book shops, in which you can locate outstanding book resources.

Resource Centers

Reuse Centers could be a bit tricky to locate, yet they are becoming more popular and are a bargain hunter’s haven. They are fabulous treat
for those “green” shoppers who like to reuse goods instead of buying new. Search within your phone book or ask your area school board. Examine the Reuse Development Organization directory for nationwide partners. Freecycle includes additional excellent material sources, all free.

Parks and Museums

Discounted admission to area museums is oftentimes obtainable within off hours, or if you go one hour or two prior to closing. There are numerous historical sites and museums; free at all times (or run by donations). Ask your area library for listings of historical sites and museums. Make some phone calls to figure out what excellent learning deals await you. You can oftentimes obtain educator discounts to science and art museums, in which an abundance of learning awaits.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Teaching Life Skills to Homeschool Students


Experienced homeschoolers will let you know that the best benefit of the home-based education includes the countless chances at experienced-based learning. Children who are homeschooled possess the chance to study several life skills just by daily immersion within family tasks, and they do not really have to be taught life skills if parents include them within the daily activities of living. Here include four parenting tips which will assist you in facilitating your child’s life skills development.

Participate in Household Tasks

As there isn’t any proof that making kids perform chores forces them to be responsible and great house cleaners, welcoming kids who wish to assist in cleaning up or inviting them to get involved helps them . They learn, in tiny doses, how they can care for their belongings, as well as the household.

Include in Household Finances

Discuss how much items cost and about how the family makes money to pay for these items. Provide them an allowance, as well as control over their personal finances. Open up a savings account for each kid and take him or her with you to the bank to make withdrawals and deposits. You also can teach older kids to pay bills, assist with your family budget, as well as encourage him or her to save for bigger things.

 Be Involved in Shopping

Pass out a part of the grocery budget for each youngster, and allow each to shop for his or her favorite foods. Inside the grocery store, a youngster learns to budget purchases, read labels, weigh items, decide price per unit or per ounce and decide if a fruit is ripe.

Assist you in Cooking

Similar to the grocery store, kitchens offer a plethora of opportunities for learning. Besides learning to cook, kids also can learn to read a recipe, experiment with all ingredient substitutions, measure, wash
dishes and store food.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Homeschooling for Fun


Homeschooling can be a wonderful and fun adventure. It not all about learning lessons, although that is an important part of it. It is about exploring new things with your children. It is about having fun, too!

How do you have fun in homeschooling when there is so much to do? Take some time to have fun with your kids. Lesson time does not have to be boring, or overwhelming, for the family. When kids are having fun, they love to learn. If they are overwhelmed with all the “book work” they will easily come to not enjoying the homeschool experience.

Add some fun into your day by doing some hands on projects. Take a nature walk outside, or a short field trip. Ask you kids what they would like to do. They are sure to give you some ideas! If you are burn out because there is so much to do, take a break and look at how you can make changes in your day to make it more fun for you and your family!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Eco-friendly Teaching Ideas


Most households these days are fairly wasteful.  People drive everywhere without consideration for gas, leave lights on, take half-hour showers and waste tons of food.  When considering eco-friendly teaching ideas for your students, consider a unit on conservation.  
Limit your scope to just a few resources (three or less) and make it fun with games and prizes.  Three of the easiest resources to focus on are water, lights (electricity) and food.Water, water everywhere. With an increasing human population and limited amount of clean drinking water, conserving water is vital.  
The bathroom presents a great opportunity for this eco-friendly teaching idea. Place a bucket in the sink and measure how much water is used when it is left running while the kids brush their teeth.  Multiply this by a year and show them the number.  Now, put a price to it.  The physical demonstration will be a good reminder to turn faucets off when water isn’t being used.
Lights Out.  Leaving lights on results in a higher utility bill and wastes energy.  One eco-friendly idea to teach children  to turn the lights off is a fun money game. Give your kids $10 in ones in an envelope, and tell them you will take away $1 for each time you catch them leaving a light on that is not being used.  At the of a week (or month) let them keep the money left in the envelope.
Eat Green. Even when you buy local, there is a certain amount of energy and waste associated with growing, making, and transporting food.  An eco-friendly teaching idea for food conservation is to make a daily menu with your children and shop for groceries together using a budget.   Make smaller, more frequent shopping trips and make sure you use up all the food in your fridge before buying more.  Have a contest where the children devise new recipes to use up leftovers.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Baskets, Binders and Bookshelves — Organizing Homeschool Materials for Large Families


What large family doesn’t need tips for organizing their homeschool materials?  And organizing homeschool materials for large families takes extra care, so your house keeps looking at least something like a home and not like the local teacher store!   There are three great tools for putting this organizational plan into action — baskets, binders and bookshelves.

Baskets

Finding baskets is easy. They are very reasonably priced at garage sales and dollar stores; at Walmart and other big box retailers;  and at local craft stores.  They come in a variety of materials, colors and styles to match any decor — perfect for when your homeschool is located in the center of the home.  The best thing about them, though, is they allow you to organize tools and equipment while still looking decorative and chic.

Binders

Binders are essential to keep homeschool materials for a large family organized.  You can have a different color binder for each child, or a color for each subject.  You can use them to keep track of monthly lesson plans, field trip notes and extracurricular activities as well as for curricula, worksheets, and even extra paper.  The choice is really up to you!

Bookshelves

What homeschooling mom doesn’t sigh at the sight of rows of books lined up with neat precision on a bookshelf?  Bookshelves are an invaluable tool for organizing homeschool materials for a large family because, quite frankly, large families have more than the average number of books!  Not to mention, they are a great place to store your binders and baskets of supplies as well, making it easy to keep everything within reach during your homeschool day.

All in all, just these three simple items can make organizing homeschool materials for large families a pleasure instead of a pain!