(Online mba degree) Ten Tips for Revitalizing the Home Classroom
No commentsBy Hong Kirby
No, we’re not talking about immunizations. We are talking about booster shots for those families that have homeschooled for so long, or so in depth that they have lost the joy of why they started this journey in the first place.
You may be one of those families that has been homeschooling for 9 years or so and now are on the home stretch, or you may be new to the journey and have gotten in over your head and wondered if this is the right choice. Any and all of us could use a Booster Shot at some point.
Here my top 10 ideas:
10. Field Trip! Just a short one or maybe even a day long adventure - your choice, but there is nothing like a field trip to break up the week and breath life into a student’s schedule.
9. Read Aloud! If you don’t already do this, it’s a good time to start when your battery is low. You can read to them, or they can take turns reading to you and each other. It’s a great way to bond and relax. Yes, even high school kids like this still!
8. School Outside! The weather is turning warmer in most parts of the country! Take the books, the art, the portable CD player and learn outside. Even better, just walk and study what is about to bloom and discuss the science of this blessing!
7. Combining 8 & 9! One booster for us, all the way up until mid high school, was to take a huge blanket out under the sun or shade tree and read. We would watch clouds, pet new baby chicks or kitties and just enjoy hearing a good story in the fresh air.
6. Year-round School Schedule! This SOUNDS awful to some people, but it doesn’t ‘t really mean school every single day! It means for each month of the year, you have school for 3 weeks and then one week off. These schedules can often be planned around holidays. If you and your student knew that every three weeks you both got a significant break, there is time to plan fun or just do NOTHING every month!
5. Find a Co-op! Many area support groups have some co-op learning classes. Often it will require that you volunteer a bit of your time once in a while, but the change of pace and learning surroundings can be invaluable to both you and all students involved!
4. Let the Student Plan - not You! One of my children wanted the freedom to plan her own Senior year completely. She chose an extra science and an extra social studies. She also planned every weeks’ work and is doing so that she can be finished WELL before her graduation ceremony date - by her 18th birthday! This has motivated her and also taught her accountability. It has also lightened my load to simply grading!
3. Let a Science Experiment ‘evolve’ into more! This was always one sure fire way for my kids to get a little giggly or off track - but boy it is memorable and it was worth the side track! Take the science experiment to any lengths your child’s questions or curiosity will let it go (but let’s be safe about it). Not only do they learn more by not having to fit into a science ‘box’ - but you will ignite the joy of learning again - and you will LOVE to see how their minds work when unhindered by steps preordained by someone else!
2. Talk with others! When you get the chance, ask other parents for ideas that may be inviting to your homeschool to use. You may also be surprised how your kids react when they find out what other kids do for their homeschool. My kids were actually pleasantly pleased when they heard the schedule and weight of some other homeschooled students their age. I became a ‘cool’ mom (for a little while anyway).
1. My number 1 favorite! Just take the day off (or the week) when you know you’ve all reached your limit! Bake a big ole batch of chocolate chip cookies, play with the pets, make a mess, don’t grade, don’t file and don’t worry. Mix this in with prayer and thanksgiving that you have the chance to be home with your kids and I’ll guarantee that an attitude of gratitude will renew that joy to your homeschool heart!
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Obama Grants - Brought In To Encourage Moms to Earn a Degree
By Fred Jackson
No doubt higher education is important, but there are often a number of obstacles that can hinder potential students from enrolling in college. Family obligations and financial concerns are often at the top of this list, especially for single mothers. Obama grants are intended to encourage mothers to return to college to earn a degree, in an attempt to ease some of the concerns associated with going to college.
In many cases, the purpose of federal grants is to help disadvantaged groups to attend college. The federal Pell grant is a commonly given endowment for low-income students. As the Obama administration has stated that it places a high priority on education, the benefits of Pell grants have been augmented in order to be a greater help to potential students. Working moms, in particular, are encouraged to apply for the Scholarships for Moms program, which is just a title given to a portion of the standard Pell grant program. By equipping low-income mothers to earn a degree, the administration believes that this will provide a stimulus to the lagging economy, and be of great benefit to the families of those mothers, as it will increase their earning power in the work force.
Although $5,000 from a Pell grant may not seem like a lot of money, when you consider the high cost of education these days, it should help defray the other expenses associated with going to college. As well as books, supplies, and housing, a student has also travelling expenses to pay. For a single mom, miscellaneous expenses can also include childcare. A great characteristic of the Pell grant award is that the money awarded does not necessarily have to be applied to college tuition. On condition that any expense that can be seen to be necessary to obtaining an education, can be covered by the grant money.
It must be remembered that this program is not specifically catering to traditional students; it provides opportunity for traditional and non-traditional students alike. Mothers who want to return to college to earn a degree are just as welcome as a student who is fresh out of high school. Equal consideration is given to mothers who would like to stay home and take care of their children while doing online courses, to potential students who would prefer to go to a small community college. The most important thing is that all willing students are able to earn a degree that will provide them with significant opportunity in the job market.
Obama grants are the current administration’s way to show that education truly is the key to a bright future. Everyone from young adults to working mothers has a chance to go to college, with the allocation of a significant amount of money to pay for education.
So what’s holding you back? Take advantage of a $10,000 scholarship drawing. Registration is free if you visit http://www.scholarshipsformomsfinder.info/
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Home Schooling for Christians
By Hong Kirby
The principles and reasons for a Christian homeschool is influenced by the child’s training based from the Bible, wherein the education of the child should be left in the parents’ hands.
As seen in all Christian homeschools, parents teach the word of the Lord, to prepare their children for appropriate Christian wisdom, direction and values essential in their everyday life as well as when they reach adulthood. This aspect of teaching is not found in curriculums of the public schools.
Christian homeschools are distinct for each family. Some accurately design their home to look like a “school”, complete with textbooks, desks, flag salute, and yes, recess.
Others make homeschooling a way of life, choosing not so much in utilizing workbooks, required texts and schedules. Here, both children and parents learn through life experiences; teaching, learning and studying is part of their everyday routine instead of a closely controlled classroom setting.
Whatever is each family’s homeschool setup, their objective is all alike, that of giving their children important information while at the same time imparting in them how to become critical thinkers and independent individuals that are aware and conscious of the choices they make.
Families that homeschool adjust its setting to fit both their philosophies and lifestyle; there is no wrong or right way to shape and construct an environment for their home Christian school.
Christian families make the most of all the limitless resources accessible, using the Bible, literature, home economics, nature and every living thing as their principal basis of education, constantly integrating teachings from the Bible in each subject matter.
Christian homeschools allow the parents to impart God’s Word to their child. It is an environment of spiritual and moral reinforcement through which kids are being trained seriously in the Word of God, mainly to act and think as Christians.
Typically, the curriculum in a Christian homeschool spends a meaningful and substantial time in the study of the Bible, wherein the focus is God’s scripture.
Christians choose to home educate their children primarily because of their faith that God’s plan is revealed through parents raising and educating their own children. In fact, Christians firmly acknowledge that it is the way of the Bible; there is no other educational system than this.
Christians actually accept that God did not even suggeste schools to be attended by His people; that schools were a product of man. The Bible pages support by instruction, example and principle, a course that resembles closely home education.
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Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 2:25 pm and is filed under education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
