Q&A Home School Pt.1

Do you have any other questions about Home School? Let me know about them in the comments!

Reading Rewards With My Daughter

My daughter and I both LOVE to read. I think it is very important, no matter how old you are to pick up a book any time you can. At the start of this home school year I decided to use my blank entry door as a backdrop for a reading reward idea I had. I cut out various shapes from construction paper, one shape for individual *on your own time* reading and one for, either novels we finish in school or ones we read together out loud. Every time we finish a book we write the title on the shape and then tape it to the door. Every 20 books there is a reward to be had: at 20 we had a movie night where she got to pick a movie to rent and snacks to eat, at 40 she got to pick a restaurant (we do not eat out often) and we went to Olive Garden. Right now we are at 43 working our way up. I will usually let her know what the next reward will be except for the 100 book mark. I think it will be cool to have a larger surprise for 100 books. For younger kids I would maybe do a little reward every 5-10 and have a big reward at a much lower number.

Here is a link to another page that has reading reward programs all around (mainly for k-6 maybe through 8th. I find that for the older kids it is harder to find programs for them)- http://howtohomeschoolforfree.com/reading-incentive-programs-for-kids/

This is a program that is for k-12 and earns your kid a T-shirt after compleating the list. Many of the books on these lists are one they would normally finish in school, may as well have a fun reward! http://www.examiner.com/article/kids-can-earn-free-t-shirts-and-certificates-from-mensa-for-kids-for-reading

Even Pizzahut has a book-it program: http://www.bookitprogram.com/

 

Do you know of any programs that are neat? Let me know in the comments!

Money Saving Resources for Home School

Home Schooling can be expensive. In the state I live in you have to be under a Cover School to be able to Home School and to be under an accredited one you usually have to pay tuition which I do. So between: tuition to be covered in my state, the text books, novels, experiments, and just supplies in general- It gets super expensive to get through the year.

This next year however I wanted to see if there were ways to save some money while still getting the things I need. Now we enter High School this next school year (dun dun duuuun) and right off the bat our tuition goes up and we will have to pay for various tests throughout the next few years. I prepare my school year for the most part as early as I can to have it ready to go and so here are a few tips and tricks I have been finding to save some munnies~

1. Thriftbooks.com – let me just say LOVE this site. I have been able to get several of the text books and novels for super cheap. Now most of these books are used but you are able to shop different conditions for different prices. After getting 3 different text books that would have cost me around $400 if I had to buy them new , I spent only $25. They came in quickly and there was minimal ware and tear on each of them, super usable and the small areas of boo boo’s can be over looked easily. I will be buying more books from this site for sure.
2. I started using Khan Academy and all the resources and classes they offer. We love it, the math is easy to learn as they show you step by step processes and give you hints when you need them. They have a wide variety of course material and the best part: It is FREE. We like using anything we can on there and will continue to do so the next few years.
3. I make full use out of book store “memberships” we renew our Books.a.million membership every year and it pays for itself in the first month most of the time. I get a lot of great sales and coupons through email and wind up saving a lot of money using them.
4. The Library: seriously people the Library is great. It is free and has a lot to offer. We can get the next reading material here and we enjoy getting out of the house just to go here. Find your local Library and get a card and take full advantage of it!
5. Hobby Lobby sales, I will wait till the things I need are on the sale paper for sure. Plus every week the 40% coupon comes in handy if there is something that I need right then. I try to keep an eye out for science kit sales and craft sales and do my best to plan ahead for things I will need.

 

What are some ways you save money? Do you use any of the ways listed above? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

Homeschool: When the teacher needs a break!

Homeschooling can be super stressful! After all you are responsible for a small persons education and future, if that doesn’t bring on bouts of anxiety then what will? After a two years of homeschooling a pre-teen/teen I think one of the most important things is to make sure you take a break! If you are tired and worn out everyone loses out. It can be hard to get a few minutes to yourself I know but you should let your partner (if you have one) and your kids know you may need a breather if just for a moment.

Here are some of my favorite de-stressers to help me out when I really need a “moment”:

1. Sit down with a cup of Tea/Coffee/Cocoa and sip on it while listening to Pandora’s Dustin O’Halloran channel (seriously check it out, it is a fantastic relax channel)
2. Read part of a book or even some articles on the internet. Something interesting you can lose yourself in.
3. Take a hot bath with bubbles or pick one of the many soothing Epsom salts (If you ever see a Milk and Honey one try it! It is fabulous!!!)
4. Take a walk outside for a few minutes and breath in and out deeply while doing so.
5. Lay down in bed, on the couch or even in the floor for a few minutes being completely still and silent.

I understand that it is a lot harder for those who have much younger children as well as those who have more than one. It really is important to get a break every now and then for your overall health.

What do you do to relax? Let me know about it in the comments and I may want to try it out!

~8 tips for Homeschooling~

There are many reasons to homeschool and many different approaches. Homeschooling is not easy, the thought of your child’s education resting solely on your shoulders is quite frankly terrifying. At the same time though because it is your child you know you will fight harder for them than anyone else. Here are some of my top tips for homeschooling:

1. Above all BE PATIENT! It may take a lot of learning but be patient with your child and yourself, you will need it! Patience helps with all things and can be the deciding factor between a good or bad day.
2. Have a clear plan of what you want to accomplish. It makes things run smoother much of the time when you have a good school plan. An important thing to keep in mind though is to leave wiggle room with the schedule. One of the greatest things about homeschool is the fact you can slow down and take your time with something if your child needs to.
3. Explore all sorts of resources. The internet can be a wonderous thing as it is filled with free resources and lots of great ideas to match with lessons. There are fun worksheets and projects galore!
4. Come up with lots of hands-on activities. A lot of people learn things better and quicker with hands-on activities. To practice an idea is easier to understand than just reading about it.
5. Know when to take a break. Sometimes you just want to get things done but there are times when it is beneficial for everyone to take a step back and take a little break. 15 minutes is sometimes all you need, then go back to what you were doing and it will be easier.
6. Join a homeschool group. Some people join groups in person around their town and some join groups on social media. You can pick and choose groups that match with your style, there are groups that are predominately Christian based and some that are Secular. It is a big help to get info from other homeschool parents and in this way you can find all sorts of resources you may not have found otherwise.
7. Study things that your kids are directly interested in as electives. Make sure your kids are included in extra activity planning. Find out if they want to try and learn a new language or study specific animals or learn how to crochet. This is a fun time that you may learn new things as well.
8. Have an area that is strictly devoted to the organization and storage of your homeschool materials. We have used a shelf and now are using a pantry to keep all of our things together and organized. It helps a lot when you know where everything is and that it is neat.

I hope some of these helped in some way. If you have any questions or want to learn about cool resources, let me know! Are there some tips you think should be included? Tell me about it in the comments!