Category: Homeschool Activities

How to Keep Homeschooled Tweens Active

12/25/2014

Physical education is an integral part of the whole picture. Don't put it on the back burner when it comes to academics. In fact, physical activities may help boost student performance in other areas. Keep this in mind when developing your homeschooled tween's daily schedule and curriculum. This is one of the first things I learned when we started homeschooling years ago. Not only is keeping homeschooled tweens active a good idea for academic purposes, but it also helps encourage a healthy lifestyle overall. It also helps them expend any pent up energy and frustration, which can be a good thing for the whole family.

Exercise with your tween every day. This is extremely important in encouraging an active lifestyle. Whether it's family yoga, nature walks, bike riding, skating, playing basketball in the yard, or a workout routine, the family should include some form of exercise in the daily routine. It's easier for the tween to feel encouraged to participate when it is a part of the normal daily activities. Try to make it happen at around the same time every day. Switch up different activities for a more rounded physical education experience.

Get your homeschooled tween involved in athletics. Sports programs are available in most areas. These can be found with private leagues, organizations like the YMCA, and even with area schools. Homeschooled tweens have an advantage in that they can sometimes join either homeschool leagues or those with area schools if permitted. Churches can also have sports and recreational teams and programs. Not all areas will have leagues specifically for homeschoolers. But usually those with neighborhood organizations are all inclusive.

Take field trips often. Get out and enjoy your area and those surrounding it. Base the field trips on current lessons, as well as other things. The zoo, library, and museum are some of the obvious destinations. But also try nature reserves, wildlife reservations, railroads, the airport, historical buildings, monuments, and anything else interesting. If you're inventive and open-minded, you can find a field trip destination for every lesson every day if you want to. You may not choose to have daily field trips. But be sure your homeschooled tween does get out often and see the world - or at least the neighborhood.

Enroll your tween in dance classes. Many tweens love to dance. So this is a good way to get your homeschooled tween to enjoy being active. It also provides an extra way to get some social interaction. Even if dance is not really your tween's best talent, the classes may still be enjoyable. Let your tween choose the style. From ballet, to jazz, to modern, to hip-hop and more, any tween who is interested can find their style. If your tween is up to it, let him rotate between various styles for an even more interesting and rounded experience.

Encourage stretch breaks in between assignments. This is one of the easiest ways to keep your homeschooled tween active during the day. Make it a routine thing to get up and move around in between lessons. Movements may include dancing, stretching, jumping jacks, or other random actions. As long as your tween gets up and flexes, it's good. Try to make it fun so there isn't any protesting. The actual movement doesn't matter as much as the fact that your tween is not sitting in one place all day long.

*I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network

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How to Homeschool With Minimal Stress

10/18/2014

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by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

When you made the choice to homeschool, I bet the first thing on your mind was not the stress. You probably imagined some fairy tale where all the children sat still and listened to you lecture or followed along with everything you said and did. Then, once you got started, you were snapped back into reality. I can't promise you a fairy tale, but I can help you get things running much smoother. When you're fully organized and prepared, each day will be easier. Exact organization layouts will be different for each family, but by reading the following, you should be able to get your schoolwork and homeschool organized easily and effectively.

Plan ahead

The first step in organization is figuring out everything you have that will be used during homeschool. Planning ahead will often take off a big slice of stress. Get out a notebook or sheet of paper and take inventory of everything you use for schooling. Individual lists and lengths of lists will vary. Once you have your list, on a separate sheet of paper, group the alike things together. Check them off on your first list as you go. Be sure you are including furniture, craft supplies, and books (no need to list every book; just list them in categories like board books, fiction, non-fiction, simple books (non-chapter), first chapter books, readers, chapter books, etc...). Once you have that done, you are ready for the actual organization part.

Create a space for school

When homeschooling, if possible, you should have a separate space for school. The space can be an entire room if you have the space (I recommend this) or if your space is limited, you can make the spot in a room it will blend well with (home office, playroom, child's bedroom...). This will eliminate the stress of trying to figure it out each day. Remember that sometimes your children may want to do certain assignments outside or on their beds. This is fine, providing it's an assignment that your child feels comfortable doing at a space other than the desk. Also, sometimes assignments will be done during field trips and other school related outings. The school spot is just the "base", so to speak. This is the spot where the kids will be able to read, write, do crafts, do projects, do experiments, study, and listen to lectures. The area must be comfortable, quiet, easily accessible, have all materials handy, and be kept clean and ready to use.

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Choosing furniture

If you haven't yet purchased furniture or don't have anything in the house you can use, here is a breakdown of what I suggest. However, keep in mind that all households are different and what works for one person may not be universal. I suggest getting a desk that contains a drawer or compartment for storing basic materials (pens, pencils, stapler, scissors, glue, paper, notebooks, etc...). If you have more than one child, you may choose to use a desk-like table that will seat all the kids and store the supplies in separate drawers for each kid. This is ideal, but don't worry if it's not in your budget. You can always opt for using the kitchen table and keeping all supplies close by. I also suggest using an armoire that has shelves and drawers on the part outside of the doors. You can store craft supplies, messy items, items with small pieces, and items you don't want babies and toddlers to touch inside the doors. You can store the books on the shelves and papers, folders , and other supplies in the drawers. If this won't work for you, then you can also use regular tall bookshelves and a file cabinet. Store the "door items" inside plastic totes on the top shelves. Arrange the books on the lower shelves and store the papers, folders, and supplies in the file cabinet.

Scheduling

Once you have decided on your space, arranged your furniture accordingly, and put everything away, it's time to organize your daily tasks and schedule. Your schedule should include all the classes your child takes each day, break and snack times, and recess times. Don't forget to include electives and field trips. Sometimes you may stray from the schedule for some unplanned learning activities. But having a general idea of what you are doing can really help avoid stress.

Handy Hints:

1. Tear out and laminate workbook pages and put them in binders for each subject. Arrange the page order according to level. If you make a big one that contains all levels and areas of math, you won't have to purchase any more math workbooks the following years and you have work for all your kids. Just pull out the pages one at a time and give them to your child with a write & wipe marker or crayon. Then, when your child is finished and the work has been gone over, you can easily put it back in. You may want to take a Sharpie and number the pages in the order you want them. That way if more than one child has a worksheet, you can easily remember where they belong.

2. Take some relaxing time for yourself each day. If your kids nap, instead of cleaning during their nap, you could take a soak in the tub, curl up with a book, or do something else you enjoy. Your relaxing time may come after the kids are asleep, but be sure to take it. Even five minutes of locking yourself in the bathroom and praying can go a long way.

3. Plan ahead. If you try to do the assignments as they come, this can stress you out. I recommend taking a weekend to plan a month or so of assignments. That way you can easily give the assignments to your child/ren when it's time.

4. Organize each subject for each child. Each child should have a folder for each subject. The assignments should be placed in those folders in order of when they are to be completed. Even though some assignments won't have a worksheet, there should be instructions for each assignment (even if it's just reading). All assignments should have a date on them. You can even stick the write&wipe sheets in the folders, too. This makes the day run much smoother.

5. Never ignore a question your child asks. If you don't know the answer, don't stress. Just look it up.

6. Use different methods for teaching (chalkboard and lecture, books, games, worksheets, drawing, writing...). That way your child/ren won't get bored and they will also learn many different methods for solving problems.

7. Have Fun!

*I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network

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The Social Scene for Homeschooled Teens: How Homeschooled Teens Can Get or Stay Social

10/11/2014

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by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer

I have been asking readers their concerns about homeschool. Sometimes parents worry that teens educated in the home may miss out on prom and other activities. Layla Lair was wondering if I had any suggestions on things homeschooled teens could do to stay social and continue to develop relationships.

Team Sports
Like teens in a traditional school setting, homeschooled teens also can participate in team sports. Sports are great for social skills. Teens not only learn how to work with others, but they may also find lasting friendships. Many areas have teams for homeschooled teens. However, they also are often allowed to play on local high school teams or other co-ed teams that are open to all teens, regardless of schooling method. This actually gives a homeschooled teen more choices in some instances.

Volunteer Work
Volunteer work is not only a very noble and useful act, but it can also add to the social life of a teen. Depending on the type of volunteer work, teens may interact with people that are a wide range of ages, including their own. This gives valuable work and even friendship experiences. Plus teens will come away from something like this knowing they've made a difference in someone else's life. Homeschooled teens may have more options to choose from when it comes to volunteer work because their school schedule could be more flexible.

Afterschool Clubs & Organizations
Afterschool clubs and organizations are not restricted to teens in traditional school. Homeschooled teens can attend these social gatherings and activities as well. Organizations that provide great social, physical, and educational activities, such as the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club, are open to everyone.

Afterschool Job
Just like a teen in traditional school may get an afterschool job to earn college funds or simply to learn responsibility, so can a homeschooled teen. This not only provides valuable work ethics and experience, but it also can be a great social environment. In many job settings, teens will come across a variety of people every day.

Community College Classes
Because homeschooled teens have a flexible schedule, this leaves many open to taking extra courses at the community college. This is excellent for earning college credits, but homeschooled teens can also use this as an extra social opportunity.

Hands-On Learning
Homeschooling allows for more flexibility as far as where school takes place. For many homeschool families, school is not always about the books. Of course, it has to be for some things, but homeschooled teens have the opportunity to learn things through doing them versus only reading about them in a book. For instance, when learning about certain things in natural science, a homeschooled teen could study the natural environment. When learning about other things, the teen may go to a museum tour, take an extra course outside the home, or the parent may hire an expert to give a lecture. Children in traditional school do this with some things as well, but a homescholed teen has more freedom and opportunity to do this with many more lessons. In doing many of these things, there will be social interaction.

Church Clubs & Activities
If the homeschooled teen happens to be one of certain faiths, he or she may belong to a church. Many will have classes, activities, clubs, and events that the teen can get involved in. Some of these might include choir, praise dancing, drama, Sunday school, or even volunteering. By joining church activities and clubs, the teen can add another opportunity for social interaction with peers.

Prom and Other Teen Activities
Many worry that their teen will not have a prom or be able to attend school games or other events if they are homeschooled. This does not have to be a reality. Not only do many homeschool organizations and groups hold events like these for homeschooled teens, but they may also get invitied to the events at the local high schools. A homeschooled teen may have friends that attend the local high school and most will allow students to bring along someone from another school. This includes homeschooled kids.

Homeschool Group Activities
Some families who homeschool choose to join homeschool groups. These are groups of people who also homeschool their children. They meet a certain number of times each week or month for social activities, field trips, events, and more.

Homeschool Co-Ops
Homeschool co-ops are when parents of homeschooled children hold various classes for the children at scheduled times. One parent is generally assigned to each subject and the group agrees to meet at a specified time a certain number of times per week or month. Some homeschool co-ops are meant as a supplement to what the children are learning at home, as well as a way for the children to socially interact with each other. Yet others are used much in the same way as traditional school.

Family as Friends
Some teens may have one or more siblings or relatives they spend time with frequently. While these friends are part of the family, they still can be considered and do have an important role in social interaction. Whether a friend or group of friends comes from inside or outside the family, interacting with them adds to the overall social skills of a teen. The same is true for the parent-child relationship. Varied relationships and opportunities put together create a great social network for a teen.

Ordinary Teen Activities
A homeschool teen is still a teen, just like a public school kid is a teen and a private school kid is a teen. They are all individuals, hopefully not defined only by which type of school they attend. On that same note, teens do not have to attend the same school or even the same type of school to maintain a friendship. Ordinary teen social activities, such as hanging out with friends, going to the mall, going to movies, and more are all activities you might see a teenager doing. A homeschooled teen is no different in this regard. If they had friends before starting homeschool, those friends don't automatically disappear. If the teen has been homeschooled all his or her life, there are (and likely already were) plenty of opportunities to make friends, such as at any of the activities listed above, interacting with neighbors, and much more.

*I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network

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How to Keep Homeschooled Tweens Active

How to Homeschool With Minimal Stress

The Social Scene for Homeschooled Teens: How Homeschooled Teens Can Get or Stay Social

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