Two of our goals in homeschooling our children have been to instill in them a love of learning and to teach them HOW to learn. Our methods might seem confusing to some but we feel they have worked extremely well so I'm not going to apologize for them! I suggest you consider what is useful for you from what I write as each child and each family is different.
The major contribution to our children's learning has been removing them from TV programs that waste their time and expose them to attitudes and morals that we do not share.
Having said that, below is what we do for grades K-8.
The kids and I together look over what we should, need and would like to cover in our schooling. They help me pick our TOPICS but they also cover what I feel they need to learn too.
I then look in various teacher resources, websites and library books and put together a unit study using a UNIT STUDY PLAN SHEET. Using this sheet helps me organize topics and form a cohesive idea of what to cover. If the kids happen to have a scout badge that goes along with what we are learning, I also pull those requirement books out to help me plan as well. Planning is a big part of the process. I'm sure parents of school aged children expect teachers to plan diligently. Homeschooling parents should too. I've found that otherwise I'm always playing catchup and miss important learning opportunities with my children.
The boys then READ and READ literature that goes with what we are studying. I grab ideas for what literature to use from several sources:
As the boys read they complete book reports on what they have read.
To me nothing seems easier. I correct their book reports and help them use better writing styles, syntax, grammar, punctuation and spelling. They revise their work.
To these activities we throw in extra worksheet work (Mom made or store bought) on grammar and writing styles. If there is a diagram or map needing to be labeled I use the appropriate teacher's resource to add to our study.
Please read my MATH PAGE (http://home.att.net/~laurabrownmckenzie/homeschoolingmath.html)
for more information on what we use for learning math.
For sciece, again we use a unit study approach as above but also work in hands on science activities. There are many great books offering activities and its not hard to plan out which ones to use. You can read my SCIENCE PAGE (http://home.att.net/~laurabrownmckenzie/homeschoolingscience.html ) to find out more about our approaches to science.
I use several resources to find good literature for the children to read. We teach reading by reading and reading more and reading more. The kids have a true love of books because we've taken the time to read to them for years. Some literature can be used to teach further concepts in history and science. I try to seek out such resources as I feel the children retain more by reading good literature.
Since our lifestyle is one that values learning, our children absorb even more through daily activities. I promise I'm telling the truth when I say we talk about genetics in the car on the way to the supermarket. The boys are curious about all sorts of things and I do my best to answer their questions. I feel like watching PBS programs together has sparked a great deal of their curiosity.
This sort of lifestyle isn't for everyone! It allows me small amounts of time to myself. But I'm happy with the results and I keep telling the boys, "If you focus on the results, the road doesn't seem all that hard afterall."
As I said in the beginning, what works for us might not work for others but I find it helpful to read about how other families homeschool their children. Maybe some of what I've talked about will be useful to you. If you would like to tell me what you do please WRITE ME
HOME
The contents and graphics in this entire website are original. Please don't copy except where permission is conditionally granted.
Copyright August 11, 2000 by Laura Brown McKenzie
Folks have visited this site since
August 6, 2000
 |