Homeschool Helps & Things we like

...Soaring to new heights in education...I love hearing from other home schooling mom's on what works for them and what doesn't. Places I often go to get in site are:
Home School Reviews
Kathy Duffy Reviews
Rainbow Resource Center
The Well Trained Mind
My homeschooling friends
Giving myself permission to switch material mid-year has been helpful. If it isn't working for your child or requires too much time on your part, try something else!
The first thing I ask myself about our material is; does it teach Biblically what we believe? The second thing I ask is; does it teach a solid education? And the third most important factor for me is; does it teach in a way that makes learning fun and is the child using it going to be a good fit with the learning style it is teaching with?
A new resource for History we found this year is material written by Diana Waring. We have only listened to one of her CD sets, but we love it! I am excited to begin using more of her material.
Learning should be fun. Period.
Not all aspects will be fun, but learning in general should be portrayed by excitement, mystery and enthusiasm. When you accomplish teaching your child HOW to learn, they can literally do anything they set their minds to. How do we teach our children HOW to learn?
~Teach them to read instructions.
~If they don't understand, have them look at the first problem and read the instructions again. If they still don't understand, read it with them. But, allow them to tell you what the instructions are.
~Teach them how to use a dictionary & thesaurus.
~Practice by allowing them to dictate instructions (from recipes, during projects...) to you.
~Boys have the need to work with their hands and figure things out. Lego sets are great for this. They come with complete detailed instructions, pictures included (yeah I need pictures!). My 5 year old son can build simple Lego sets. Yes, it takes him a while, and once in a while I help, but he can do it.
~Make daily life learning. When you are in the store, add things, find letters, have your child make the list. When you are working at home, talk about letter sounds, fractions, words, and how things work. Admit when YOU don't know something and take the time to look it up with your child. Create in yourself a passion for learning, your child will see it.
~Take a nature book outside and track animals, look at leaves, watch clouds.
~Use rocks to do math.
~Blow something up, with kitchen ingredients, my boys LOVE this :) Try Mento's and coke or dissolve an egg shell.
~Have your child write & mail Thank You's, Get Well Cards, Birthday Cards...
~Get excited about learning and your child will too!
...The sky is the limit...