When our middle daughter Madison was in preschool, we noticed that she was not learning as fast, or processing things as well as our first daughter had at that age. We didn’t think much about it, and didn’t get to concerned because we thought she would outgrow it, that she would catch up. That did not happen, and this is where our story begins.
Any library books about money or finances would be great for the homeschool malaysia unit study on money and finances. Some popular titles include: “The Coin Counting Book,” “Funny Money,” and “The Story of Money.” Search the catalog at your local library for more. Any of these books would provide a great opportunity to write a basic fiction or non-fiction book report.
Education and schools (for children and adults): Local, international or home. I suspect if you’re like me your children’s well-being and education will be very high on your list. Will you home school training, put them in a local, non-English speaking school or search for an ‘International’ English speaking one? I advise scouring the internet, blogs and forums but be aware; in my experience the pros and cons of a given school and choosing local vs. international are extremely contentious topics. Always remember that it’s your child and your life. Seems obvious but it’s easy to get persuaded when you’re desperate for a solution. Dig, dig, dig…
The Math and Science Center was the brainchild of John McConnell a retired physicist who moved to Grand Junction in 1990 and became a educator and mentor for the kids here in western Colorado. His goal was to bring more math and science to local schools. He put together a mobile lab in the trunk of his car complete with hands on experiments and interactive presentations and began sharing them with our kids and their teachers. When his lab outgrew his car he opened the Center and now hosts over 160 exhibits.
Make sure you still maintain proper family time. Spending some time with your spouse can help maintain free time that might be lost to homeschooling. Make sure that you let them know how important they mean to you by going out to dinner or a movie regularly. Doing things with your family when you can make a world of difference.
Start school at the same time each day. Routine is key for a home school learning student. Just like in public school, they would be starting and ending school at the same time each day. They also would be breaking for lunch at the same time. The past 12 years, we have started school at 9:00am, had lunch at 11:00, and ended our day between 2-3:00pm. By keeping a routine, your student knows what to expect and when to expect it.
Mel: I think the rise in homeschooling is a symptom of the problems in the public school system and society. Besides those who do it for religious purposes (I am not one of them), I think it shows that increasing numbers of people are not willing to accept government rule over their personal family choices. That might sound radical, but it’s not. Parents should be the ones responsible for their children, not the government. It gets some bad press – families supposedly homeschooling kids as a way to hide abuse – but on the whole, it is loving, caring families who want to raise children who are beneficial for society at large.
With all the buzz about failing public education it can be tempting to show “the world” how it is done by over scheduling our own homeschool children. While activities are wonderful, be on constant watch for balance and imbalance within your home.