10 Homeschool Questions Part 2

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Welcome to the April 2010 edition of A Living Education E-zine!

Here are the last 5 Q & A that I was asked recently.

1. Encouraging non-writers to write
2. How to help children who are slow to read
3. About to start high school
4. Social activities for teens
5. I can’t do high school maths!

Encouraging non-writers to write

I think children fall into two camps when it comes to creative writing – they either love it, or hate it. But the simple fact is that everyone needs to be able to write and write well, even if not creatively.

There are some really great programs out there which take your child through a process of learning to write, but some are quite expensive. The most reasonable program I have found to get children’s creative juices going is Karen Andreola’s Story Starters.

However, this too will bomb out if you have not dealt with the underlying issue of your child’s heart. Obedience in the school room is the same as obedience anywhere. If your children have learnt to obey you in their chores, play, interaction and other situations then you should not have a problem with setting them a writing assignment and them doing it, even if they find it hard. Please note I am not talking about children who struggle with writing here, just children who baulk at the thought of writing.

But sometimes a mom can be over zealous in setting writing assignments and can ask too much from a child either because they have not acquired sufficient writing skill or the child is too young. Here you need to be led by your own personal knowledge of what you know your children CAN achieve, not by what some scope and sequence book says they should do.

This being said here are a few tips to get your children of varied age to write a paragraph, page or story.

Other writing tips for kids can be found here

Helping children who are slow to read

I have 4 children and used Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons for all of them. Did it work for all of them? No! One of my 4 just couldn’t “get it” when it came to reading.

Having read all the Moore books early on in our homeschooling journey, I knew that I did not need to panic as I may just have a “late bloomer.” However as 11 years of age approached I did begin to feel a little concerned.

I prayerfully sought the Lord on the issue and spoke to a friend whose advice I trust. We then determined that by looking at a whole range of things that we did have a reading problem with this child.

Because of this fact we chose to go with a recommended program called the Wilson Reading System to take the child back to the starting blocks and build a good solid reading foundation. As this is a 3 year program and we are into the third year, we do still have a little way to go. However our child is reading anything and everything that we get and most of the time is found with a book in some sunny spot in the home.

My advice for parents with slow to read children:

1. Wait on the Lord
2. Be sure if you have a late bloomer or a child with dyslexia before you move forward.
3. Ask one or two trustworthy people for input and help. Do not gather a host of counsellors as everyone will advise something different.
4. Move forward relying on the Lord’s leading

Help! I am about to start highschool.

As I know that subscribers to this ezine are spread across the globe, I will try to not make this answer country specific. There are a few commonalities though with high school homeschooling parents no matter where you live. The first is doubt. In some it may be a fleeting feeling and then you steady yourself on your homeschooling course, for others it may be the thing that plagues you all the way through your high school homeschool years.

Either way, doubt needs to be taken to the Lord and He will reaffirm the values and standards He placed in your heart for the homeschooling journey. Once you have done this, remember not to compare what you know your child needs to what another family may be doing for their high school years.

The other common ground is the ultimate goal of graduation. Will my child go to college or university? Should I prepare them just for a job straight out of school? Should I prepare them for an entrepreneurial future? Should I encourage my daughter’s to be career or home orientated? All of these questions are good and valid and need consideration. But they are ultimately specific to your family’s value system.

However, may I just share one opinion with you from my perspective? Keep the doors open, especially if you are just embarking on your highschool homeschool journey. Whatever your choices are, make sure that you leave your child with plenty of options after they leave school. This takes time and wisdom to prepare for. Do not enter into this time on a whim.

Social lives of teens

At the outset, let me say that I believe in family socializing. I believe that as in the young years, teens need to place time with their families, particularly with their siblings, as a high priority in their lives.

However, I live in reality and I know that the social needs for older children are different to younger children. With this in mind there are a few things that we do to make sure that all social happenings are still healthy and within the boundaries we have set for our older children.

1. An monthly entertainment allowance is given, which when used up…is used up!
2. All movies, music and books are checked out and approved at www.commonsensemedia.org
3. Teen group get togethers are home based at our home or in homes of close friends who we know really well.
4. Online chat groups and forums are not part of our lives, but if they were, they would be closely monitored and all chats would be left open to see the content.
5. Saturday afternoons or early evenings are appropriate times for get togethers. These are preferably healthy activities like a BBQ and board games, a movie and pizza time or darts and snooker evenings. But this is a privilege not a weekly “right” and only happen if it suits the whole family.

Highschool Maths

When we first told our parents 13 years ago that we were going to homeschool our children, the first question my father asked was: “Who is going to teach them maths?” At that stage I was pretty confident that I could do maths with our children up to senior high but around the time Algebra became part of our school day I realized I was out of my depth.

This was when we introduced Teaching Textbooks for our highschool student as well as a tutor for times when she needed more help. As more homeschoolers graduate we are finding that there is a good choice of tutors to help our children with things that mom just can’t do. I think when it comes to biology dissections; I may just make use of a tutor too!

This being said, any skill that needs to be learnt in the home environment, whether it be maths, accountancy or something more simple like computer skills or baking, has someone somewhere that can help. My daughters and I want to improve our knitting skills so that we can knit for two charity organizations who work with needy children and we are swapping skills with another mom who knits really well. I am teaching her how to make soap in exchange for knitting lessons.

The same can be done with other areas of skill acquisition in the homeschool. Perhaps you do not like Teaching Textbooks or do not have the money for a tutor, but I bet there is a homeschool mom out there who can offer you math help in exchange for another skill.

Well that’s it for this newsletter,
Take care until next time,
God’s richest blessings to you as you homeschool,
Wendy

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