-- Scheduling a Homeschooling Day
-- Reader Tips
-- Assorted Information (resources, archives, etc.)
________________________________
< < O U R . S P O N S O R > >
Amazing Smoothies, The Internet's #1 Smoothie Book
Over 200 Amazing Smoothies Recipes
Getting your 5 A Day is fun and easy with Amazing Smoothies.
Fruits and vegetables were never so simple and delicious.
Many of the recipes found in Amazing Smoothies contain MORE
than five servings of vitamin packed fruits and vegetables.
Only $9.95 plus receive 4 bonus eBooks including The Amazing
Family Cookbook and Amazing Vegetable Variations.
Take the first step on the road to the best health your
family has ever experienced. Make good nutrition an easy
part of your life.
________________________________
Dear Readers,
There are lots of great Readers' Tips in this issue, so don't
forget to scroll down. Although Bright-Kids isn't directed
specifically at homeschooling families, I find that many of
the readers I hear from are either currently homeschooling
or considering it for the future. So I included an article on
scheduling a homeschooling day for those of you who are
off and running this Fall but may need a little bit of guidance
in scheduling everything on your "to do" list.
On to other things ...
Long story, but I've been without access to my van since
Thursday morning of last week. On Saturday, my kids and
I had a big “adventure” and took the bus to do a fairly large
shopping trip (had to take everyone with me so we’d have
enough hands to carry full bags back home on the bus).
It actually didn’t go too badly, and my kids thought it was
cool how simple it is to get around by bus here locally. When
you have easy access to your own transportation, I guess you
just don’t really think about the fact that it’s still possible to
get around without a car of your own.
Anyway, the kids were laughing as we walked home from the
bus with our grocery bags in tow.: “Being without a car has
changed shopping from just a simple errand into a well-planned
family activity!”
It’s also forced life to move at a slower pace. We either need
to walk where we’re going or we need to plan around the bus
schedules. There also aren't any spur-of-the-moment “let’s
hop into the car and make a quick trip through the drive-thru”
excusions on lazy days, either. Everything needs to be
planned carefully and thought through.
It reminds me a lot of when my kids were little and we only
had one car in the family. I was “trapped” at home every day
while my husband was at work, but it really never felt like
being trapped. We just ended up doing a lot of walking -- to
the park, the library, the store, the coffee shop, McDonald’s.
Thank goodness for double-strollers in those days!
I’m looking into using one of those grocery delivery services
for heavy items (cat food, kitty litter, canned goods). The
delivery cost is about equal to the cost of round trip bus fare
for the four of us, so it won’t really be any more expensive to
have our major grocery items delivered than to do the shopping
ourselves. But we’ll have to make it regularly to the one store
in town that carries the gluten-free products my daughter
needs.
My oldest daughter was also looking for a job this past week,
and after receiving a number of job offers, she wound up picking
the place that was the easiest to get to on her own using her
feet, her bike, or the bus. Funny how this is effecting so many
various parts of our lives.
My kids are also quite proud of how “green” we are right now --
using public transportation, walking places, using reuseable
cloth grocery bags. So we’re doing our part for the environment,
too.
Yes, it’s very frustrating on many levels to be temporarily with-
out a car. But it’s also been interesting and educational to be
forced into seeing what it’s like to live without access to personal
transportation. It’s not only possible, it actually has some definite
benefits, as well.
"Listen to their stories and poetry. If a child isn't ready to write
down his own thoughts yet, let him dictate them to you. The
habit of putting thoughts into words will come in handy later
when your creative writer actually writes well enough to do it
________________________________
MINIMIZING GROCERY STORE TANTRUMS
by Shari Steelsmith
Copyright Parenting Press
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Tip -- Cut down on hassles at the grocery store by giving some
thought ahead of time, and planning a simple strategy to manage
your children.
I dread going to the grocery store. My three-year-old hates riding
in the cart, won't sit still, and then runs away if I let her walk. My
seven-year-old begs for sugary treats and pouts when I say, "No."
Tools -- There are many different tools that help in this universal
parent-child scenario. The following are adapted from Elizabeth
Crary's 365 Wacky, Wonderful Ways to Get Your Children to Do
What You Want.
Problem: screaming, not staying in cart or nearby
Offer a coping tool. Bring a toy, book, or nutritious snack for your
preschooler to eat while you shop.
Prevention. Make a clear rule, "Ride in the cart, or walk right next
to me," and remind her of it before you go in the store. Give some
power. Let her help by pushing the cart or putting groceries into
it.
Problem: begging for treats or other items
Avoid the problem. Decide that grocery store trips are never for
buying treats (unless they are already on your written list). Remind
your child of this policy before you go in the store. Ask for his help
in making choices. Involve your child by asking him to assist you
in choosing between different brands, or by selecting the apples
you need.
If you don't mind buying treats occasionally, make a "One-treat-a-
month" rule. If your child begins to beg, ask him, "Is this your treat
for the month?" He will learn to be discriminating about what he
chooses. Another form of this tool is, "You may have one item
per shopping trip." If your child asks for another treat, pull the first
one out and ask which item he wants to keep. Repeat as many
times as needed.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
--You’ll find more practical tips you can use right now in 365 Wacky,
Wonderful Ways to Get Your Children to Do What You Want by
________________________________
< < O U R S P O N S O R > >
Sudoku for Kids!
Finally! 120 Sudoku puzzles made SPECIALLY for Kids from
6 years and up... reliably graded, available by instant
download for you to print NOW!
The puzzles are designed with kids in mind and use bright
colors and fun graphics which children love.
________________________________
HOW TO SCHEDULE YOUR HOMESCHOOLING DAY
Copyright Megan Wiles
All rights reserved.
When creating a homeschooling schedule, areas of instruction,
student age, and family schedule should all be taken into con-
sideration. These three things should be integrated to come up
with a schedule that will benefit children and adults alike. There's
no need, however, to redesign the wheel. Use tools available to
you to come up with a schedule that meets your needs.
The first step in creating a homeschooling schedule is to develop
a mission statement. Take a few hours to sit down, write and
rewrite a statement of purpose for your homeschool. Consider
these questions: 1) What do you want your children to learn?
2) What can you provide through homeschooling that your child
cannot get through a regular education setting? 3) What traits
do you want to promote in your child? Writing a mission state-
ment will guide your instruction and scheduling choices.
Once you have a mission statement, it is time to do some research.
Collect information on the topics you plan to teach, and the develop-
mental level of your child. The internet is a valuable tool for this type
of research. To make things easier, you may want to refer to the
teaching standards laid out by your state for the appropriate grade
level. They have done the research for you. Use these standards
compared to your mission statement to add and delete topics that
you would like to be a part of your curriculum.
For example, if religion is something you feel strongly about, you
might add that topic of study to your states standards. Or you
might incorporate it into already existing standards such as,
teaching about people who have made a difference, or use
religious works as part of a cultural study or reading material.
With a mission statement and instructional content, you can
now begin to schedule your instructional week. With a weekly
calendar in front of you, first set down meal, snack and nap
times appropriate for your child and/family. Next add in regular
necessary family activities, such as weekly trips to the grocery
store, sports practice, or church commitments. Keep in mind
that these activities can be tied into current studies and become
part of the learning environment. Decide how many hours a day
you wish to devote to instruction, and what time is reasonable
to begin each day. Finally divide the time between subjects. It
is generally accepted that at least 2 - 2 1/2 hours a day should
be devoted to language arts (reading, writing, grammar, spelling,
listening and speaking). Another hour should be spent focusing
on math. The rest of your time should be divided among your
other areas of study. Some people prefer to hit every subject for
a short time every day, but most hit each area of study for a
longer period only once a week.
For example, Monday - science, Tuesday - social studies,
Wednesday - religious studies, Thursday - art and music,
Friday - community service.
The last key piece in your homeschool schedule is physical
activity. While some choose to treat this as any other content
area, and designate an hour or two each week to play sports,
we highly recommend that you take time each day to address
it. Incorporating short spurts of physical activity into breaks
throughout the day will reenergize students and allow them
to focus more on their studies. Additionally, spending 30
minutes of focused physical activity with your child each day
will model and promote healthy behavior that will last a life
time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
With seven years as an educator, she hopes to lend her
knowledge and practical experience to others. She also
provides a free e-course on "Maximizing Your Child's
Learning Potential."
________________________________
Visit our new Nature Study Bookstore online!
http://astore.amazon.com/naturestudy-20/
________________________________
READER TIPS
Submitted by Bright-Kids' readers. Share your favorite family
educational tips by emailing Debi at:
DSimple@aol.com
== Tips for Busy Kids ==
I have a great tip that helps me when I'm trying to get my fidgety kids
through school (we home school): I send them outside to do laps in-
between subjects, or if it's raining and icky outside, they do sit-ups
or push-ups right where we are. That way they're getting P.E., training
for the Presidential Fitness thingie, and getting some energy out so
they can sit for a bit more! :-)
--Leanne E.
== Source for Inexpensive Art Prints ==
A few years ago at Borders, I found calendars of Monet and Renoir
prints. We used these for our picture study, not necessarily using
them in order; I allowed the children to take turns choosing which
picture we would study next. It worked wonderfully. I just wish I
could find every artist I wanted to study in a calendar form!
--Melissa A.
== Math Counters ==
For math counters, we use homemade beansticks -- wooden craft
sticks with 10 beans glued on them. The sticks are 10's and the
individual beans are ones. They're nice for place value and regrouping,
borrowing, carrying type problems or explanations. I like to use black
beans because they show up so nicely against the light colored craft
sticks, but any dry beans will work. So, for example, 54 is 5 beansticks
and 4 beans, also 50 plus 4 is 5 beansticks and 4 beans. etc. For 7
plus 9 when you get to 10 you replace 10 beans with one beanstick
so you see the answer is 16 (one beanstick and 6 beans). Works for
subtraction too. For larger numbers, you can put beans in big cups
like a foam coffee cup (for 100's), little cups like a tiny dixie cup with
10 each in them (for 10's), and individual beans (for ones).
--Katherine C.
== Nature Journals ==
I adore the idea of a nature journal, especially this time of year with
all the beautiful colors about (we are in the midwest.) I thought my
daughters would also love the idea, they needed some inspiration,
so I got out some plastic wrap and a rubber mallot and some paper
and we chose some flowers from our yard (we have been into several
neighbors yards now too!) and we hammered some flowers on the
paper using the plastic wrap as a buffer to protect the hammer. Some
of our flowers turned out beautifully, some were a mess and some
became other things besides flowers. All in all we had a great time
and a good beginning for our nature journals. It was amazing to see
what color the flower started out and what color it was after it was
mashed. We mashed many things (we often travel with our rubber
mallot now!). Our next project was to pick as many different leaves
from the neighborhood and mimic the colors with acrylic paint, we
then "stamped" them in our notebooks. We are all having a grand
time and looking forward to many other nature journal projects!
--Teri L
* * Your Tips? * *
Do you have some great family fun, educational, or parenting
tips/ideas you'd love to share with other parents and caregivers?
Just send your tips and ideas to Debi at Bright-Kids:
DSimple@aol.com
______________________________
READ-ALOUD BOOKS FOR FAMILIES:
http://snurl.com/reading4kids
Recommended books for children and families
(This is a great list to print out and hand to your kids'
grandparents for suggestions at gift-giving times!)
_______________________________
A special thanks to Gary Foreman and the friendly folks at
Back to newsletter list
