Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. My family and I did.

Thanksgiving can be a great time of the year when you are homeschooling. Most of the formal lessons are put away, but wonderful learning still occurs. It is a great time for the kids to learn about family history and home skills. It is also a great bonding time.

Family history is taught naturally when discussing family traditions. Why do we make that dish? Where did you learn to cook Thanksgiving dinner? Why do we always watch the parade? Questions like these are commonly asked. When answered, they provide the opening to share stories and lessons taught by the older generation of your family.

Math is practiced in a practical way when you allow your child to help you cook. They can practice their fractions and adding, as well as measuring. Kids love to help out in the kitchen. It is a fun way for them to learn and also spend time with mom or dad. It may take more time to get that part of the cooking done, but you have taught your children. You have also made wonderful memories that will never be forgotten.

When your child grows up the fun memories are the things that they are going to remember and want to share with their kids. They are the memories that last.

Have a great day.
Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom

Socialization

One of the things to really consider when you start homeschooling is socialization. When a child is either pulled out of school or never sent to school, you need to make sure that you give your child plenty of time to socialize. It doesn't have to be only children their own age. Then need to learn to communicate and get along with people of all ages. There are many opportunities for your child to get that interaction: church, scouts,support groups, sports, even the playground in your neighborhood. Most children given the chance will join in an make new friends. They will not suffer from lack of socialization.

I also have a great site for you to check out. I discovered this site some time ago. The authors name is Cindy Rushton. The site is www.CindyRushton.com. She is a Christian lady who has wonderful insite into homeschooling and raising godly children. I encourage you to spend some time browsing her site and enjoying the treasures that she has for you.

Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom

Have Fun Learning

For years my kids would tell their extended family, "It has been a really long time since we did any schoolwork." If we were doing something fun, they didn't think that it was schoolwork. They learned a lot that they didn't realize because it was fun.

For my youngest son, the more we do outside in nature the better. He will learn, study and write for days when you have it be something to do with bugs or animals. Even just doing class outside seems to make it easier for him.

My daughter doesn't like math. She loves sea life, especially dolphins. When you show her how math can help keep the dolphins healthy, making sure the tank is big enough or to make the water have the correct minerals, she is suddenly willing to do whatever it takes to learn it.

My oldest son likes math, but dislikes reading. Give him a book about sports and he will read for hours. Show him how math and science principles work to make the curve ball curve and he is interested.

What makes my kids happy and have fun may not be the same for your kids. You can find ways to have fun while learning. One of my kids favorite ways to learn geography is to make either salt dough or cookie dough maps. It is hands on learning that they love.

Look around the world at the possibilities and you will find the ideas for your kids. Once the fun starts it can be hard to get them on another track.

Have a great day.

Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom

First Steps

After you have made the decision to homeschool, one of the first, most important steps that you need to take is to decide what you are going to teach your children and how you are going to teach them. Keep in mind that you might need to teach different children differently.

In my case, the first step was lots of prayer. I needed to pray to learn what God wanted them to learn. What did He think was important? I found after much prayer that what I wanted was not always what He wanted.

You then need to spend some time thinking about your kids. How do they learn best? What are they interested in? You need to think once they get older, what do they want to do in life? How can I prepare them for what is ahead? Teaching practical skills, like cooking, basic home and auto maintenance are things that should not be over looked.

Then comes in the how of teaching or what curriculum you want to use. I found that what I wanted didn't work for my kids. After more prayer, I found a Christian based curriculum that would teach the practical skills along with teaching how to be a Christian person. I knew that God was calling me to use this curriculum, but I kept getting sidetracked by what I wanted. Once again the road of our homeschooling got bumpy. God kept pointing me back to what he wanted.

What God wanted for my kids is not always the same as what God wants for your kids. Pray and seek God for your life and theirs.

Sincerely,
Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom

Benefits of Homeschooling

I have found that there are many benefits to homeschooling. The most important of these is that I get to really know my kids. I know there likes, dislikes, fears and dreams. It has created a stronger family for us because we have had the time to really bond.

I have chosen to homeschool year round. I don't know about anyone else's kids, but mine get bored and cranky if they have too much time off. It also makes it easier to take time off when family comes to visit or when you want to take a vacation at off times of the year.

With us being a military family, we can not always wait until the end of a school year to move. It can be very hard on kids starting school in the middle of the year at a new school. With homeschooling, you can move and just take the school with you.

You can teach your children in a manner that works best for them. When we first started homeschooling, I tried to use text books in all subjects just like the public school does. I soon discovered that my kids didn't learn well that way. They learn much better reading books about a subject. They learn the same information but a different way. You can choose to use a lot of hands on activities or not use any. The choice is yours.

I know that there are many other benefits to homeschooling. These are just the biggest benefits for us.

Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom

Learning comes in many ways.

I started to prepare for homeschooling 10 1/2 years ago. I wanted everything to be perfect. I had lists of things that my kids needed to learn before they would be considered educated children. As time went on, I began to be discouraged that we weren't doing every thing that I thought that we should be doing. I thought that I was failing my kids by not teaching them enough.
It took me a couple of years to realize that the reason that schooling wasn't going according to plan because I had neglected to ask God what His plan was for the children that He had entrusted to me. I had been trying to follow what society told me was important, not what God knew was important.
God didn't want me to forget about teaching the traditional school subjects. What He did want me to do was to seek Him first. What was revealed to me as being the most important thing to focus on was their relationship with God and their character. When I did, life settled down and went smoothly. When we dealt with the attitudes involved, both theirs and mine, real learning began. They drew closer to God and were able to concentrate on their schooling.

Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom

Focus on the Positive

When I started homeschooling my kids, I knew that I would be responsible for teaching them everything. What I didn't realize is that they would teach me just as much.

This week my 14 year old daughter and I were involved in a hit and run car accident. I thank God that there were no injuries. My daughter told me after that she never once asked herself why did God let this happen to us. She said that the only thing that kept coming to her mind was how great God is because look at what He kept from happening to us.

That thought brought a lot of things into focus for me. As a stay at home homeschool mom it is easy to get caught up in the mind set of dwelling on what didn't get finished. We need to learn to focus on the positive and what things have been accomplished.

Ask yourself, have I made the world a better place for someone today? Have I shown God's love for others today?

Michelle Turner
OneDotComMom