Christopher Byrnes asked:


There are many reasons why parents choose homeschooling for their children. A lot of times this choice is made by parents who are dissatisfied with the way formal education is being run. Also by those who are concerned about safety issues.

In addition, there are those parents who wish to freely instill some religious values in their children, while some feel that having their kids taught at home helps tighten their family bond.

Nowadays, there has been an uprise in the numbers of students who are getting their education at home. In the United States, approximately around 3 million children participate in homeschooling programs.

There are various ways homeschooling can be achieved. One of the most popular methods is to avail of prepackaged curriculums. A lot of book publishers specifically produce materials designed for children who participate in homeschooling.

These prepackaged curriculums basically introduce subjects that follow the curriculum of formal education.

Home schooling includes a lot of activities that make learning fun and exciting, especially for young children, while teaching a range of subjects such as: Mathematics, Language, Social Studies, Science, History, Electives and many more.

Children who are undergoing homeschooling are furnished with school supplies and other materials that they need for their education.

Software, educational audio cassettes and videos, and the internet are also part of the tools that are included in the education of the child.

Home schooling teachers may also teach children how to play various instruments as a part of the activities covered in music, and other various skills depending on the child’s interest.

Arts and crafts, indoor games, and story telling are some of the other activities homeschooled children can participate in. The best thing about this is family members will be able to support and be involved in the various activities of the child.

Students who are undergoing homeschooling may also choose to go on organized fieldtrips along with other children who are also being homeschooled.

Outside of homeschooling, children can also participate in a number of activities such as: community service, working part time, sports programs, church activities and field trips that are organized by support groups that endorse home schooling.

These are basically facilitated by families who also have children who participate in homeschooling.

This method of learning is gaining more and more popularity these days, and is becoming a more feasible option for a number of families that now it is fast becoming a new trend in the way children get their education. This gives parents more freedom to choose what they think would be the best option when it comes to their children’s education.

Sarah Jones asked:


Homeschooling your kids can be an exciting time, but it can also be a time of isolation and loneliness. Day after day, you work hard to give your child the education they deserve, but others around you don’t seem to understand your situation. You may feel stuck at home, while others around you are out and about going to playgroups and social events. You may even feel depressed or sad at your lack of social opportunities.

There seems to be a dividing line between the public school children and the homeschoolers, and many a friendship has dissolved over the differences in believes and lifestyles. This can be bothersome for children, but even more so for the parents.

So how then, do you strike a balance? How do you find others that understand your lifestyle choices, and most importantly, how to you find friends and playmates for your kids? Luckily, there are several places to find just the right fit for you and your kids!

First off, it’s important to know that you are not alone in your homeschooling adventure. There are a number of resources and tools available to you. You just have to know where to look. Once you find the right resources, you will begin to feel a sense of community again. Encouraging your kids to make friends with other homeschoolers is crucial for the success and development of your children.

Going online is a great way to find others that share your passion for education. Homeschooling sites are excellent when it comes to finding lesson plans and crafts, but they are also a great way to make homeschooling friends! Message boards and forums are a fun way to find friends that share your same goals and passions. It is encouraged to jump right in and start responding to other posts, or start asking the burning questions that you want answered about your child’s education. Many even have a place where you can create a buddy list and communicate one-on-one with others, which is a fun way to make friends.

Next, look within your own community. Many communities have homeschooling organizations that offer not only support but socialization opportunities as well. There you can set up field trips, play dates, and even sports events for your kids.

With a little bit of time and effort, you and your kids can begin experiencing the joy that is homeschooling in a whole new light.

Mimi Rothschild asked:


It’s always tempting for young homeschoolers to rush to the store and buy overpriced mass-produced valentines featuring their favorite toys and cartoons. Homeschool parents should try to curb this desire by encouraging their children to make their own cards. It is a fun hands-on activity that you can do together as a family. Encourage them to use their imagination to create an interesting personalized style.

Cards are a breeze to make, even for younger homeschool students. Just take a piece of red, white, or pink construction paper and fold it in half. Then, you can decorate the card using glitter, sequins, crayons, more construction paper, and other craft materials. Cut out little hearts and decorate the front of your cards. Use fabric patterns and wrapping paper for a neat effect. Cut your card into interesting shapes like hearts or flowers or animals.

Have your children make collage valentines. Grab a stack of magazines and have them cut out clippings of words and pictures that evoke the Valentine’s Day spirit. Use stamps, stencils, and clip art to jazz things up. You can even create a little pocket in your card for a treat like a Hershey’s Kiss.

Make sure to include a Bible verse about love. This will help your students to keep their idea of love in perspective. After all, there’s a lot more to love than romance, flings, and crushes. These valentines should be about friendship and brotherly love. Check out these Bible verses about love.

Once the cards are made you can do several things to make the card-giving process fun. If you belong to a homeschool co-op, you can have all of the homeschoolers create their own valentine mailboxes out of old shoeboxes. Decorate them in a similar fashion. You can slip valentines in balloons and then inflate them. Students will have to pop their balloon in order to get their valentine.

vishaldhiman asked:


Are you a camp director, teacher, or homeschool mom looking for a new arts and crafts idea for your kids? Or maybe you are a recreation director at a senior center or nursing home and could use a new project. Either way, this arts and crafts idea will be interesting and fun for all. This glass case can be used, given as a gift, or converted into a necklace purse.

To make the glasses case, you will need the following simple materials: a square of craft foam, plastic or large blunt needles, lanyard lace or thick yarn. Cut two rectangles from the foam, each 3-1/2 inches (9 cm.) by 6 inches (15 cm.). With a whole punch, make holes on three sides of each rectangle, for more details visit to www.101-save-money.com leaving one short side unpunched. Make the holes 1/2 inch apart and allow at least 1/4 inch between the hole and the edge of the craft foam. The holes need to line up so that the two pieces can be laced together. If you are preparing the craft for small children, you should make the holes yourself. Otherwise, the crafters can do this step if you have enough pairs of whole punches.

At this point the crafters can cut decorative shapes from other colors of craft foam, or you can buy sets of ready-cut foam shapes. If you are doing the craft at a special event, like vacation Bible school, for more details visit to www.art-of-astrology.com choose shapes that echo the theme of the event. For instance, if the Bible school or camp has a cowboy theme, find shapes that fit well, such as boots, cowboy hats, and stars. Let the kids choose the shapes they like and glue on as desired. You might also like to provide beads or sequins to glue on as well, especially if the crafters are a little older.

The next step in this arts and crafts idea is to thread the plastic needle with the yarn or lanyard lace. Yarn might be a little easier to handle, but lanyard lace is shiny and attractive. In a pinch, some teachers of small children use a bobby pin as a needle. It is certainly a safe alternative. Simply loop the yarn through the opening and use the open end of the bobby pin as if it were the point of the needle. The children can now begin to lace the front and back of the glasses case together.

To turn this arts and crafts idea into a necklace purse, simply attach a piece of lanyard lace to each corner making a long handle. Kids will enjoy using this case as a place to store secret notes and small objects. If they’d rather, they can give the glasses case to a parent, grandparent, or friend who wears glasses. Either way, this arts and crafts idea will be interesting for all.

Brenda Shaylor asked:


As each year goes by more and more parents are seriously considering homeschooling as a viable alternative to mainstream school.What are the benefits of Homeschooling then?

Sixteen years ago my husband and I made the decision to move our young family of five children from a rural area in Western Australia to Perth and with that move we also made the decision to home school.The reasons were many and so were the benefits.

Here is a list of what we feel were the greatest benefits:

*The end to the ever growing problem of bullying within our children’s education environment.What a relief!

Many times our children could be victims of bullying at school and we may not even be aware of it.

However,once our children are taken out of the formal school environment we can find that the lines of communication become more open and as they confide more in us we realise the actual extent of bullying and the effect it has been having on our children.Therefore we are able to help our children overcome the effects of bullying and to develop a strong sense of self-esteem and renewed self-confidence.

*A very flexible daily schedule, much to everyones’ delight.We all have days when we wake up tired or feel unwell.When homeschooling the daily schedule becomes much more flexible and allows for much freedom in coping with health issues and time constraints.

It is only a short time before the children become very good at time management and develop a personal sense of responsibility for accomplishing tasks within a certain time frame.This goes hand in hand with self-discipline.

*The freedom to choose topics our children are interested in and the willingness to change if there was a lack of interest in a particular topic.

For example,if one child is interested in Endangered Species,but another in Chemistry,there is no reason why these differing interests cannot be catered to.In fact,the children very quickly become self-learners:that is,they follow their natural interests until they are satisfied with what they have learnt in a particular area.Then they willingly go on to something else.

*Each child can be given as much one-on-one attention as necessary,therefore allowing for quick pick-up of any weaknesses or problems in their curriculum areas.

For example,when at school perhaps you as a parent did not realise that your child was struggling with Math simply because they did not know their Times Tables,or even that your child was not reading at a required grade level.Within a short time of homeschooling you can identify and deal with these problems.

*The children are eager to get into their work each day, knowing that much time for favourites was available when the formal side was covered.

For example,if your children are avid readers there may be time for an extra visit to the Library,or if they love the outdoors a bike ride or bushwalk.These are the things that enhance education for young and old.

*It was only a short time from when the children were taken out of school to see what each child’s’ strengths and weaknesses were.For example,our son developed a deep love for fishing and story writing.Our daughters all learnt musical instruments and were keenly interested in a wide variety of crafts and hobbies.Some were keenly interested in stamp collecting and loved to attend and be involved in stamp auctions.

*The children became very self-motivated and self-disciplined learners which qualities have carried over into their adult lives and work habits.They all love acquiring new skills to this day,because of their love for learning.

*If anyone was sick at any time the children were so far ahead in their program that it did not matter and ample time off could be given without fear of falling behind.This takes pressure off the whole family,as we all know how difficult it can be when there is a nasty ‘flu or other bug doing the circuit.

*It is very easy to integrate a wide range of activities which allow for socialising with a wide variety of age groups and cultures.

For example,if you have elderly folk in your neighbourhood you can invite them for morning tea and as they and the children get to know one another the children can create biographies of the lives of these ones.

Or perhaps there is a family from another country just moved into your area.This is a great opportunity to get to know one another and for the children to learn the invaluable lesson of tolerance and respect for those of a different background,thus removing prejudices.

These are but a few of the many benefits that we have found come from homeschooling.It really is a practical and viable alternative to formal school education,in areas where it is permitted.

Joshua Poon asked:


You’ll definitely find that homeschooling entails more expense than conventional public schooling, but also that it will cost considerably less than the annual $2,000 to $10,000 per child that private school tuition typically runs.

The least expensive option is a public school program tailored to homeschoolers. Those programs that allow more flexibility in choosing materials are often a bit more expensive because they may only provide or reimburse for certain “approved” texts and materials, or they may established yearly budget limit for each student. If you choose to other texts than the program recommends, you may end up having to cover the costs yourself. Some programs offer equipment, such as microscopes or computers, for loan during school terms.

Also often provided are “consumables” – items like paper, pens and pencils, workbooks, and so on – although, as well as the other materials, supplies may be limited to specific amounts each school term.

Private homeschooling programs vary mainly accordingly to the services they provide. Some programs, such as Calvert sell mainly complete curriculum packages. In 1995, the average tuition for a complete Calvert curriculum for a single grade was around $450, with their advisory teaching service (grading, testing, record maintenance) costing an additional $220. Calvert requires that textbooks and the teacher’s guide be returned when the course is completed.

Other programs like A Beka Books (a popular Christian-based program), sell individual courses and books as well as complete packages. In 1995, A Beka priced individual books from $.75 to $16 and teacher curriculum guides at about $30. Like Calvert, A Beka sells both curriculum-only packages ($ 120/year at elementary level) and full correspondence programs (around $450/year for elementary grades, $590/year for high school). Homeschoolers at the high school level often use conventional correspondence courses available through public and private universities. Such courses are relatively expensive, typically $100 to $300 per course; textbooks and other required materials may or may not be included in the course fee. For homeschoolers who desire formal credit in specialized topics, particularly in mathematics, sciences, and foreign languages, such courses can be well worth the extra expense.

Less structured private programs may offer per family pricing rather than per child or per course. The Waldorf based Oak Meadow School offers enrollment for an entire family at about $250 per year; curriculum packages (mainly storybooks, novels, and activity guides rather than formal textbooks) range from $150 to $250 according to grade level. Families can opt for teacher assistance for grading, record keeping, and general advice at $65 to $95 per quarter. Clonlara School is extremely flexible with its services and specializes in helping unschooling families. Their 1996 to 1997 fees for record keeping and curriculum advice were $550 for one student, $575 for two or three students, and $600 for four or more students per family. Books and other supplies are additional and vary depending on the type of program you and your family chooses.

Costs for unschooling families are almost impossible to predict, but most families estimate they spend somewhere between $300 and $1,000 for the entire family. Many families buy lots of books, crafts, games, toys, and other “stuff” without keeping official track of whether it is “educational,” and can count items such as computers as general family purchases it rather than as specifically educational. (Some of us deliberately avoid trying to calculate educational expenses, fearing to see the grand total.) Especially with younger children, though, it’s difficult to say that such expenditures differ much from those for conventionally schooled children.

Mimi Rothschild asked:


Welcome to The MorningStar Academy Easter Activities page. We hope that you and your homeschoolers enjoy these fantastic free crafts, printables, and other activities.

Wooden Spoon Bunny Craft: Families First will teach your homeschoolers how to make this fun bunny craft.

Why is Easter so Happy?: Bible Kidz Funzone chronicles a kid-friendly story of Easter. Your homeschoolers need to know why Christians celebrate this holiday.

Easter Egg Hunt: Kaboose has several pages that should get you started on the best Easter Egg Hunt you’ve ever hosted. You would be surprised at all the creative things you can do!

Easter Chicks: Homeschoolzone has a fun Easter ***** craft that your homeschool students are sure to love.

Easter Riddles: Learn some fun Easter-themed jokes, riddles, and brain-teasers at Black Dog. Just click the “Answer” button for Easter laughs. Why did the Easter Egg hide?

Easter Printables: About.com has a host of Easter printables that your homeschoolers will love.

Easter Printables: Hershey’s website will provide your homeschooling paper with all of the chocolate-themed wall papers, screen savers, and activities you need for a well-decorated Easter.

Easter Crafts: As usual, Enchanted Learning has dozens of crafts, games, and other goodies for homeschoolers.

Easter Basket: Kids Domain will show your homeschoolers how to construct an adorable Easter basket. Turn that regular old basket into a dazzling and cute Easter basket.

Easter Songs: Songs of Praise has several Easter songs and devotionals that you can do with your homeschoolers. Christ the Lord is Risen Today and others can be found at Songs of Praise.

Easter Stories: You can find dozens of stories, devotions, and sermons at Glorious Easter. Oswald Chambers and Our Daily bread are just a few of the sources you can find here.

Mimi Rothschild asked:


Some people associate autumn with the “death” of summer. I see it as a gorgeous, vibrant, colorful time where fiery reds, oranges, and yellows compete for our attention. Crisp wind lively plays among the fallen leaves. Warm cocoa and crackling fires chase away the cold at night. Fall is my favorite season, can you tell? Thanksgiving is a great time for homeschoolers to dust off the old craft supplies. Although the traditional turkey hand tracing can be loads of fun, there’s so much more fun to be had. Why not try a turkey greeter or bouquet of thanks? There’s tons of fun autumnal crafts begging to be made at Kaboose. Click around to find them.

Thanksgiving List

It might seem obvious, but the main objective this Thanksgiving season should be to actually give thanks. It’s sad how distracting our lives can be, that we forget to remember how blessed we are. There are many ways to show gratitude to our Lord and Savior this season. You can spread paper across any surface, a table, refrigerator, or wall. Then, equip your homeschoolers with crayons. Each day, have them add something for which they are thankful to the list. On Thanksgiving, you can have each child read his or her contributions aloud in order to share them with the rest of the homeschool family. You can cut out leaves in construction paper instead of writing on a list or draw pictures instead of writing out words. Be creative!

Leafy Fun

For most families, fall means leaf-raking time. Have your homeschoolers help out with the lawn care this year by making it family endeavor. Let them run around and jump in the leaves. At night, you can even burn up the leaves in a brilliant bonfire. Don’t forget to bring the hot cider and hot chocolate!

Family Football

For a lot of dads, Thanksgiving is a time to settle down in the living room and stretch out for a few hours of quality football. Don’t just watch football this year. Get outside and get that blood pumping! It will be a great opportunity to throw the pigskin around with your family. You can even plan for a halftime mini-game, inviting other homeschooling families in the neighborhood.

Play a Thanksgiving Party Game

Think about ways to attribute Thanksgiving imagery to existing games. Consider Mayflower Memory:

Everyone sits in a circle. The first player says, “I am sailing on the Mayflower and I am taking Apples. The next player repeats the phrase, only instead of apples, thinks of something that begins with the letter “B”. The game continues this way until players can no longer think of words. If a player can’t contribute an item, he or she must leave the circle. The last person in the circle wins!

Use your imagination! Give Duck Duck Turkey a try!

Joshua Poon asked:


Parents have several explanations and justifications why they homeschool their children. They have concerns regarding the safety of their children, the quality of education that is offered in public schools, the expensive cost of private schooling and the struggle of the child to keep up with the entire class.

Parents usually feel defenseless when their kids come home from school with accounts of emotional cruelty from peers, labeling them as “slow learners”.

With a large class, teachers usually have little options and remedy to act on these children who are so called “slow learners”. This is why often they are advised to be tutored, so that they will be given the attention that they need, and can learn at “their own pace”, not competing with others as well as not having the teacher’s undivided attention.

Planning what your child needs:

Your child will need a certain study area that is quiet, with few or no distractions at all. Study time should be scheduled well for each day.

Display a focused attitude towards your child; this is essential, as your child needs to realize that you are committed and enjoying your time together rather than irritable or unsatisfied with your child’s shortcomings.

You must reward, stimulate and encourage your child to create an affirmative emotional and informative experience. You must provide your child with basic school materials such as textbooks, globe, encyclopedia and dictionary. Consider also the resources the internet can deliver as an addition to your homeschooling program; the net offers information that continues to grow.

Have a supply of educational games of different varieties, art materials and supplies and reading books, in an accessible place. After your homeschool hours your kids can play games, do crafts, and read books independently.

Defining your homeschooling year

In order to begin the lesson planning process, you have to determine your timetable or what is the school year for your homeschool.

First of all, know the total number of “school days” in the school year.

When determining this there are two main factors that you should consider. One is the certain number of teaching or tutoring days as obliged by the State you are residing in. Generally, 180 days are required, although some States do require more and some less. Consequently, this is the number of minimum or lowest recommended days for that you should plan.

The other factor is the total number of days which is necessary to move throughout the longest type of curriculum which you planned for the forthcoming school year. When that certain “longest” curriculum will necessitate less than the lowest number of teaching days, then it won’t be a reason in outlining your homeschool school year.

For instance, if your State requirement is 180 minimum days of teaching. Upon examining your curriculum, you discovered that one such curriculum, for example algebra, will necessitate 200 days of teaching to finish. Then your homeschool year will be 200 days in length.

When you have already resolved and finalized which days is more, that of the lowest number of your State’s or your longest duration of curriculum, then you can determine the “total number of days” in your homeschool year. This is then the total amount of days that you should base your lesson plans upon.

Christopher Byrnes asked:


Education is a very important aspect in a human being’s existence. He needs education to nurture his craft, hone his talents, and provide him with all the possible answers to all of the wonders in this world.

Parents know this fact, that’s why they would always want the best for their children. In this manner, when the concept of home schooling was introduced into the society, they have been astonished with the fact that there are still other ways in educating their children.

At first, opting for home schooling is such an overwhelming matter. Most parents thought that it is impossible to teach a child through home schooling method.

On its basic concept, home schooling refers to the alternative way of educating children. It differs from the usual type of schooling because the learning process is done at home and the teachers are usually the parents themselves. They only use a particular type of teaching method that can be obtained in different institutions that provide home schooling programs.

Home schooling had provided many advantages and benefits to both parents and children. This is why many parents have opted for home schooling in providing their child the indispensable education that their children need.

However, some parents find home schooling a daunting task. So, for parents who find home schooling a bit of an overwhelming task, here is a list of some tips on how to get you started in home schooling your child:

1. Arrive at a decision

The problem that most parents encounter when opting for home schooling is the fact that they find it hard to finally decide whether to home school their child or not. This is because deciding on this kind of thing is relatively important especially because the future of the child is dependent on it.

However, the choice should be based on the capacity of the parents to conform to the requirements in home schooling their child. They should be able to wholly participate with whatever items that were entailed in the program in order to provide the best education for their children.

2. Keep in mind that home schooling is a process

Since home schooling is a process, parents who want to home school their children should take things one at a time. For instance, if they have a pre-school child, they should focus more on what pre-school students should learn. They should not delve more on how to teach higher levels of education that are fit for students in higher levels.

3. Know your state laws regarding home schooling

In the United States, each state has its own laws regarding home schooling. Hence, it is best to know what your state asserts about home schooling so that you can provide the best education for your children in conformity with the law.

4. Look for a support group

Home schooling should not be the sole responsibility of the parents. That is why it is important for the parents to find a local support group, wherein they can mingle with other homeschoolers who can provide them with additional pointers regarding the process.

Each member in the support group can help each other regarding the best technique in teaching their children.

5. Do your homework

Nothing can get you started on the right track than doing your homework first. In this way, you will be able to know the important details you need to be familiar with in order to provide the best education for your children.

Knowing what you have to do will give you the best guidance in home schooling.

6. Identify your child’s learning manner

It is best to assess your child’s learning manner first before you choose on a particular home schooling method. Conforming to your child’s learning manner will provide the best way on how to home school your child.

There are many choices available when teaching your child through a home school program. Though it is still best to always pattern the program that you will choose on your child’s learning style.

7. Organize the things needed in home schooling

Just like a typical school, home schooling your children would also need different materials and a proper place where they can easily and comfortable learn new things each day.

Hence, it’s best to organize the place first by providing them with an adequate space for their learning. Most children would respond to the process easily if they were comfortable with the place where their classes are held.

8. Have a budget for home schooling

Some parents tend to over indulge with the materials needed in home schooling. It does not necessarily mean that because you have lowered your expenses because you have opted to home school, as compared to sending your children into a typical public or private school, you can spend more.

It is still a must that you have to set a budget for home schooling. There are many books and other materials that can be found on the Internet which are definitely priced cheaper.

Indeed, home schooling is not just a process but also a lifestyle. It’s something that parents should be best acquainted with in order to give their children with the best education they need.