Category: Planning/Scheduling

Fun Links for January

~MelissaLeave a comment

Happy New Year! 2011 is before us, full of possibility.  Here are some links to start off the new year.

**Looking for a Bible Reading Plan for younger children? Here’s the Adventist Junior Youth Bible Year Plan.   It is a four -year plan that divides the Bible readings into themes by chapters, such as Prophecy, Praises and Peace.

** If this is your year to get organized as a homeschooling mom, here are some great ideas for creating a home management binder. Pick and choose ideas that fit your needs.

**Here are some Pathfinder Honors that would make great unit studies for the new year.   These are most appropriate for upper elementary age students and above.

Personal Evangelism

Temperance

Stewardship

**If you are studying Adventist Pioneers in the coming year, AdventSource has a set of posters that may be helpful to your study.

December Brings…

AnnLeave a comment

Chill December brings the sleet,

Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.*

Here we are at the start of December! 2010 is nearly over! Here are some fun links for the month of December and to take you into the new year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a fun website focusing on the importance of eating fruits and vegetables. Here’s a fun challenge: use the CDC’s Fruit and Vegetable of the Month calendar to introduce a new fruit or vegetable to your family’s diet.

Looking for Physical Education ideas to add to your homeschool? Here’s the homeschooler page for the President’s Challenge fitness program.


Take a winter zoo trip. We tend to go to the zoo in warmer months, but winter can be a great time to visit your local zoo. Many zoos feature special winter programs that show how the animals handle winter weather.

This is snowflake making season in the US. How about some ideas for integrating math or language arts with an afternoon of paper cutting fun? Here’s an article with a few ideas to get you started. It’s also fun to make virtual snowflakes— no paper scraps to clean up!!

* The Garden Year, by Sara Coleridge

Making Maximum Use of the Library

Ann1 Comment

The local public library can be a homeschooling family’s best resource. Here are some ideas for taking maximum advantage of libraries in your area:

  1. Don’t just try the nearest library, make an effort to visit all of the libraries available to you in your area. Different amenities may be available at each location. Get cards from multiple libraries if necessary. Don’t forget to see if the colleges and universities in your area will allow you to check out materials. Colleges with teacher education programs often have excellent educational materials.
  2. Be sure to pick up fliers listing the resources and activities available at each library. What classes, story times, lecture series and tutoring programs are available?
  3. Take time to meet the children’s librarian as well as the reference librarian. These librarians are excellent resources for unit study ideas and research projects. They can alert you to resources that you may not know about. Share what you are planning to study for the year. Many times children’s and reference librarians are looking for ideas on new books to order, and your curriculum plans may help.
  4. Check to see if your library offers inter-library loans for books and videos.
  5. What online resources does your library offer? Online catalogs are very helpful for searching from the comfort of home. Can you renew your library books online? Does your library give out passwords for special online collections and sites?
  6. If your library does not give receipts for books checked out, make it a habit to have your children complete a library book log to keep track of how many books to return. Assign a child to mark the due date on a calendar as soon as you return home.
  7. Are there conference or meeting rooms available for you to reserve to work on a project? A conference room may be a more comfortable space to work in if you are also bringing younger children along.
  8. Does the library have display space available for larger homeschool projects? Perhaps your library may allow your child to display his science project for a week or two.
  9. Are there special library privileges for teachers that you can also use, such as longer check-out dates, or sets of themed materials. It never hurts to ask!
  10. Are there library-related service projects available for your child to participate in? Sorting books for a book sale, organizing display cases, etc.

Do You See What I See? Free Unit Study Printable

Ann3 Comments

There has been a great discussion on the AHE-List about how to create unit studies.  I was inspired to create a printable of ideas for creating a fun multi-disciplinary unit study based on the Adventurer Club award Spotter.  Print the requirements for the Spotter award first, and then this spotter unit study idea list for additional activities.

Join the AHE-List if you’d like to ask questions and share ideas about homeschooling from a Seventh-day Adventist perspective.

Do You See What I See? Free Unit Study Printable

~MelissaLeave a comment

There has been a great discussion on the AHE-List about how to create unit studies.  I was inspired to create a printable of ideas for creating a fun multi-disciplinary unit study based on the Adventurer Club award Spotter.  Print the requirements for the Spotter award first, and then this spotter unit study idea list for additional activities.

Join the AHE-List if you’d like to ask questions and share ideas about homeschooling from a Seventh-day Adventist perspective.

Do You See What I See? Free Unit Study Printable

~MelissaLeave a comment

There has been a great discussion on the AHE-List about how to create unit studies.  I was inspired to create a printable of ideas for creating a fun multi-disciplinary unit study based on the Adventurer Club award Spotter.  Print the requirements for the Spotter award first, and then this spotter unit study idea list for additional activities.

Join the AHE-List if you’d like to ask questions and share ideas about homeschooling from a Seventh-day Adventist perspective.

Put the “Home” Back in Homeschooling

~Melissa2 Comments

I recently read yet another newspaper article on how homeschooling is on the rise and is becoming more main stream. Homeschooling has changed a lot in the last twenty-five years. We’re no longer ashamed to tell people that we homeschool our children like our parents were. But not only is homeschooling growing, so is the homeschool industry. Companies that provide goods and services for homeschoolers just seem to pop out of the woodwork. This has turned into a blessing and a curse.

Not only is there a plethora of homeschooling curriculums and online opportunities, there are local opportunities for homeschoolers in many localities that could turn a homeschool mom into a bus driver without her even knowing it. There are music lessons, art classes, swim lessons, gymnastics, team sports, drama classes, coops, Pathfinders, or Boy or Girl Scouts, church activities, homeschool support groups, even my local school district has a building and staff just dedicated to offering classes to homeschoolers. So many good things that we wouldn’t want our kids to miss out on, right?

Well, I would like to propose that it is important to keep the “home” in homeschooling. While there are so many great opportunities to have our children involved in, we are responsible to prioritize. If we try to have our children involved in every outside activity that strikes our fancy or theirs, two problems will arise. Number one, our children will not have time to keep up with the basics that need to be covered in their homeschooling, because they will be overwhelmed by the time constraints of everything else. Number two, as moms or dads, we will just plain lose our sanity. If you don’t believe me on that one, try it for a while.

I do believe in giving our children opportunities. It’s just that we must prioritize these opportunities. Try to limit outside of the home activities to one day a week and try to incorporate all the errands in that day too. There is a lot of work involved in getting kids into the car. At our house, when we leave on our day out, we have to have the diaper bag packed, all of the library books gathered up, musical instruments and music ready to go, shopping list written down, shoes, coats, and water bottles found, teeth brushed and hair combed and faces washed (yes, I have to check on that before we go). I’m always marveling at how long it takes us to get into the car and go. Now just imagine the family that goes through that routine every day. It doesn’t leave time for much else.

Besides the stress that constant outside activity adds to the parents, it also adds stress to the children, which in turn is counterproductive in their education. “The more quiet and simple the life of the child, the more favorable it will be to both physical and mental development.” Ministry of Healing, p. 381.  Home is where we can provide such an atmosphere. Home is the best place for children to be. Isn’t that one of the reason why we chose to homeschool? So let’s put the “home” back in “homeschooling”.