Category: Preschool-Grade 12

The REAL Reason Why Children Fidget

Rhonda1 Comment

Saw this blog post (linked below) and couldn’t help but think of this quote:

New Born Lamb“During the first six or seven years of a child’s life, special attention should be given to its physical training, rather than the intellect. After this period, if the physical constitution is good, the education of both should receive attention. Infancy extends to the age of six or seven years. Up to this period children should be left, like little lambs, to roam around the house and in the yards, in the buoyancy of their spirits, skipping and jumping, free from care and trouble” – Ellen White

WHY CHILDREN FIDGET: And what we can do about it

Pathfinder Honors as Spiritual Unit Studies

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EGW honorThere are several Pathfinder honors in the Spiritual Growth, Outreach & Heritage category that would make interesting quarter or semester-long spiritual unit studies for middle to high school age students.  Some of the honors in this category include Adventurer for Christ, Bible Marking, Sanctuary and Literature Evangelism.  You can find all of these honors and more HERE.

temperance honor

Elementary Math Helps

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Elementary Math Helps on Pinterest – Come see what AHE parents have been pinning!

Thinking About High School ~ English/Language Arts

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Thinking about high school English/Language Arts (ELA) curriculum? Things to consider as you make your choices: What are your student’s future educational goals? Is your student planning to pursue vocational training or attend a college/university? What are your student’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to reading and written communication skills.

high school englishVocational training programs will require basic technical reading comprehension skills as well as basic writing abilities. Your student will also need to be able to communicate effectively on written tests. It might be a good idea to compare your student’s abilities with the minimum high school competencies for ELA in your local area. Many high school competency ELA tests mirror the level of essential skills needed for success in vocational studies.

If your student is planning to complete a degree program at a college or university, then your focus will be different. Acquiring strong composition skills, especially in the areas of report of information, persuasive and analytical writing will be a priority. A college-bound student will also want to develop an outlining/note-taking strategy to help with keeping track of lecture information.

What to do for literature studies? The answer is one of personal family preference. Many SDA families choose to exclude fiction from literature study. It is important to note that literature study can be accomplished without fiction: essays, biographies, journals and other non-fictions works can provide the foundation for analytical writing, one of the main purposes for literature study.

Continued grammar or vocabulary lessons and the study of Greek/Latin roots can be helpful for students preparing to take the SAT or ACT.

Resources:

Online Grammar Handbook– from the University of Minnesota.  Helpful for high school level students to see what type of writing and competency is required at the college level.

Elements of Style : classic writing handbook

Merriam-Webster – online dictionary with a Word-of-the-Day

SAT Question of the Day – get an idea of what type of grammar/writing is on the test.

Wish Books for Science-Minded Homeschoolers

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I see youWhen I was young, I looked forward to the arrival of the fall department store catalogs in the mail.  I would spend hours poring over the ‘wish books’ making lists of things that I wanted to save up to buy.

I consider these science catalogs are the equivalent of wish books for science-minded homeschoolers.  We love to get all four of these catalogs in the mail!   My children have marked the pages with kits or equipment that looks exciting to them and made lists of items to save up to purchase.  I’ll readily admit that I’ve marked up these science catalogs as well, with all the science curriculum kits, materialsscience 3 and supplements that I’d like to use.    I have ordered curriculum materials, lab equipment, microscope slides, dissections sets, etc. from these companies as well and have been nothing but satisfied.

I’ve linked to the catalog request portion of each site, but these companies also have online catalogs as well for immediate browsing.

Nasco  Science Resources

Home Science Tools

Nature’s Workshop Plus!

Carolina Biological

 

Thoughts on Delayed Academics

Ann1 Comment

Green apple on booksWhat does delayed academics look like in a homeschool program?  How do families come to choose this important educational philosophy?   Here are four collected articles from around the web that begin to answer this question.

In On Waiting for Reading Readiness, a homeschooling mother shares how she grew into the understanding of waiting until her daughter was ready to read.

Another mother shares in Methods Monday: Delayed Academics what the concept looks like in her home with her children.

Dawnita explains in Delayed Academics how the first book she read on homeschooling introduced her to the idea of delayed academics.

The Moore Formula is the first introduction many homeschooling families have to delayed academics.  This summary article of the Moore Formula describes what homeschooling looks like when you put off formal instruction.

Our Most Important Homeschool Lessons

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The  first textbook to be used for the education of our children is the Bible. Daily we are to use the Bible to lead our children to Christ. We are to begin with short, simple, easy to understand lessons.

“In these simple stories may be made plain the great principles of the law of God.” Education, 185.

Our goal is to direct to our children the commandments of God as standard for living, and to teach them to use the Bible as a guide for life. As we use the Bible to introduce our children to God, they will be introduced to His character and their own characters will be influenced as a result.

bibleHow should we teach our children? There is no reason for Bible study time to be dull and boring.  The pen of inspiration gives us guidance in creative ways to teach Bible lessons to our children.

“ The use of object lessons, blackboards, maps, and pictures, will be an aid in explaining these lessons, and fixing them in the memory. Parents and teachers should constantly seek for improved methods. The teaching of the Bible should have our freshest thought, our best methods, and our most earnest effort.” Education, 186.

That means that we should take some time to really think about teaching the Bible to our children.  Put some serious lesson planning effort into it!  What resources do you already have?  What could you do to make Bible study time more productive and interesting for your family?

Let us renew our commitment to consistently present to our children the most important lessons they will ever learn.

“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” Ps. 34:11