Summer is finally here, even though it hasn’t been really hot yet. But never fear! I have some really hot ideas for summer learning for you and the kids. Because it’s summer and this is the time I use to get a lot of big projects done, What’s Hot in Homeschooling will be taking a break.
However, I have a fun summer activity for you Pinterest lovers! Each Saturday beginning this week, I will host a Sanity Savers Pinterest Party here on the blog! You’ll find new friends to follow and great pins to pin. If you have no idea how to participate, don’t worry! I’ll share a step-by-step process so you don’t go nuts trying to figure it out. If you subscribe to Homeschool Only on the Psychowith6 newsletter, you’ll want to either change your subscription (see the preferences link at the bottom of your email) or put a reminder on your calendar to check the website on Saturdays so you don’t miss the fun.
Homeschoolers know how important reading is, but sometimes we get so busy with summer fun that reading time disappears. I think you’ll appreciate this article by Teach Mama, especially if you have reluctant readers. When you’ve finished the article, check out Free Summer Reading Programs and this Summer Reading Bingo Printable, too.
I have to thank my teen for this one. He is crazy about Duolingo and even has me using it. This online teaching program that gives awards for progress is supposed to be the equivalent of college coursework. What a great way to keep the language skills sharp in the summer and into the school year, too.
My oldest found this website, too. If you’re thinking about Wordly Wise or another vocabulary program, check out Vocabulary.com first. Your child can work on improving their vocabulary by grade level. Did I mention it’s free?
Speaking of free, The Chaos and the Clutter gives a review of free piano lessons for kids. There are 55 free video lessons with the option of purchasing printed materials. Summer is a perfect time to perfect the piano.
At the beginning of the summer, we feel like we have endless time. But all too soon, we can run out of ideas. Bow of Bronze offers up some reminders of inexpensive, but memorable things we can do with the kids.
One of the very important things I do in the summer is plan curriculum for next year. Avoid spending money needlessly with this fantastic list of free resources for teaching on FreeHomeschoolDeals.com.
This week is all about curriculum and planning for me. I may love deciding what I’m going to do for school more than actually doing it! I definitely love sharing these great finds with you.
Heart of the Matter Online has great advice for those of us who like to shop for curriculum without really considering all the important factors first.
A non-homeschooling friend sent me this great article about what people who learn many different languages use for language learning. I’m not sure if it would be appropriate for homeschoolers (because I haven’t tried them), but it’s definitely worth checking out.
There are lots of great ideas here and even more on the author’s Pinterest site. If you have more time in the summer for experiments (like I do), you might like to do several of these.
Free Homeschool Deals has assembled this amazing list of free resources for doing a butterfly unit this spring or summer. A study of butterflies is truly one of the most awe-inspiring I’ve done with my children.
Speaking of summer, this is the perfect time to create your list of activities you want to be sure to do with your family. I love this adorable free printable and can’t wait to put my list together.
God bless your homeschool this week! If you enjoy this list, would you consider sharing it with others?
I’ve struggled to find a homeschool record keeping system that works for my family for nine years and I’ve finally found it! I’m sharing it with readers of Blessed Beyond a Doubt today. I hope you enjoy the post and Jill’s fabulous blog, too. Most of all, I hope I can help you make your homeschool record keeping easier. You’ll want to read the post for an explanation, but here’s a direct link to the form you need.
This week I’m very thankful for the Internet. Through it, God enables us to enjoy the immense talents He has given to so many homeschoolers! I’m thankful, too, for the homeschool bloggers who share their creativity with us. If you’re featured this week, please grab the “Featured” button in the right footer. If you’re a blogger, I’d love for you to link up. If you’re a Pinterest person, please pin the great ideas from the What’s Hot in Homeschooling board. If you just want great articles and resources, read on!
Whether daughters that we hope will be homeschooling moms should be educated beyond high school is a hot topic these days. This article from Intoxicated on Life is great encouragement to provide continuing education.
If I could only choose one subject area to teach my children well, it would be language arts. When our kids can read well, they can learn God’s Word and even math well. Only Passionate Curiosity has assembled a great list of free curriculum for teaching these critical skills to 1st through 6th graders.
Speaking of language arts, teaching kids how to write good sentences can be a challenge. The Chaos and the Clutter offers us a simple and fun method for making writing click. Can’t wait to try it with my kids!
So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler points out that many worksheets that ask students to write about their families aren’t appropriate for homeschoolers. So contributor Jill made some and they’re free!
Now it’s your turn. What’s hot in your homeschool this week? Please grab my button from the blog’s right footer or link to this post. Please visit the blog linked before yours and thank them for the hot ideas!
A decade ago, I was addicted to television. I didn’t watch it; my kids did. I used children’s programming and videos as a babysitter. Then I read The Plug-In Drug and was convicted that I needed to make a change. With minimal protest, I was able to limit my kids’ screen time.
Grief Over Games
When my boys were little, and given my experience with TV, I had no intention of ever getting a game system. I caved under the pressure of other parents, however, who told me I really should have one. It wasn’t long before video and computer games had become every bit the nanny that television had been. My husband and I put the games away and told the kids they could only play on their birthdays. Birthdays then became the obsession. I was asked every day how long it would be until the next birthday. It was as though the games had become even more desirable!
More boys joined our family and they developed more friendships with game-playing boys. When the Nintendo Wii became popular, my fitness-loving husband and I decided that an active game system was okay. Before long, however, non-fitness games were added to our collection as was another game system. The kids found free games on the Internet and began playing with their homeschool friends online.
Tactics Tried
My husband and I tried numerous approaches to containing the time. Kids were only allowed to play after school and before dinner. Often my husband proclaimed game-free weeks or simply insisted they stop playing to go outside. But the problem seemed more complex than our rules.
For instance, we noticed that the kids had very little interest in doing much of anything else but games. Board games and other toys stayed on the shelves. When shooed outside, they counted the minutes until they could come back inside. Creative play had diminished.
The other problem was enforcing limits. As soon as we would declare a gaming hiatus, a neighbor boy would come over with his new game and his puppy dog eyes. When time was up, there was just one more level to complete. Or worse, one or more of the kids would claim they hadn’t gotten to play “at all.” There would be tears and frustration all around.
Having read PlayStation Nation, I recognized these signs of gaming addiction and they worried me. I sat with one of my Homeschool Homies this summer to discuss the problem. As a mother of four boys, she shared my concern.
Game Timers
I began researching devices to control game time for both our families’ benefit. Before I determined that these devices would not work for our situation (we have too many devices, for one thing!), I was shocked by the behavior of children of reviewers of these products. Parents recounted that their kids had learned to drop the timer device to reset it. Others had disconnected or even cut the cables! You can read the reviews of two of these game timers here and here.
It doesn’t take a psychologist to realize that the kids tampering with video game timers have more troubles than just a gaming addiction. My friend and I agreed that our kids would obey whatever approach we used, but we had to determine what that would be. My friend had successfully limited gaming time to weekends in the past, but had found (as I did) that gaming became an obsession when it was allowed.
A New Approach
On the way home from my talk with my friend, I had yet another discussion about gaming with the kids. They already knew why my husband and I were concerned. We shared with them that gaming could become so addictive that young men would forego employment and even marriage because they would rather play. They knew how gaming could keep them from learning and building relationships with one another. I discussed the timing devices I had looked at with them and they agreed with me that they wouldn’t work.
After much discussion, the kids proposed the plan that we have been using and LOVING. Before I tell you what they came up with, let me tell you the results of limiting screen time in our home (I say screen time, because my daughter prefers to watch television):
Listening to audio books again (in the middle of the day!)
More creative play (the dress up closet is getting a workout)
More physical activity (the kids are swimming and jumping and working out more)
More time playing board games
My daughter isn’t watching television at all
More time spent with guests doing just about anything BUT games
More arguing (yep, you read that right. This is the next problem to address!)
Here is the kids’ taming screen time plan and why I think it works:
Free screen time on Thursday evenings
(when Mom and Dad have activities outside the home; everyone can play for an extended period and they look forward to a “free night.”
Two hours of screen time per week
The kids put two circles representing two hours on our dry erase board in the kitchen. The circles are divided in halves, representing 30 minutes each. This is the part of the system I am most excited about. The kids have time to play during the week, but they are in control of it. When our children leave home, they will have to discipline themselves this way. This approach is the best training for adult life. The kids time themselves, mark the time themselves, and even police themselves. I’m still amazed.
Before using time, the majority must agree to use the time and how they will use it
Our oldest isn’t into gaming, so if three of the five of the kids want to use some of their time, they can play. They must also agree before starting who is going to play what and for how long. Otherwise, you end up with the, “I didn’t get to play” situation. The kids choose how to spend time, knowing they must be prepared for any guests during the week as well. Their typical approach lately is to play an hour on Tuesday and an hour on Saturday. Had I dictated to them when they could play, I doubt the plan would have worked as well.
The plan is communicated to friends
Most of their game-playing friends have been told about the new system and some of them have adopted a similar approach, which is great! Because I can’t control what happens in others’ houses, however, I don’t try to control game time elsewhere. It’s not a significant problem currently.
I know families who allow gaming only in the winter, only ten minutes a day (which makes it not fun), and families who don’t allow games at all. As a family who has them, we are thrilled with this approach that allows our kids to develop self-control.
What, if any, approach do you use to control screen time in your home?
Memory skills are both biological and experiential. In other words, you can be born with good or poor memory skills, but you can also learn to use them to their maximum.
Few things are as boring as memorizing alone. That’s why, even though I have strong memorization skills, I studied anatomy and physiology with friends in college.
The popular Bible Bee succeeds in getting children to memorize large portions of Scripture because of the competitive aspect of the activity. When the kids and I worked through the activities in How to Develop a Brilliant Memory, comparisons were naturally made, though I didn’t encourage them. While it resulted in some tears, it also motivated my kids to improve their skills. If competition doesn’t work for your family, offer a reward. That’s why competition works anyway; the reward is the placing and admiration you receive. My son memorized all the countries in Europe alphabetically to get a sweet treat and to get the appreciation of his peers.
Put it all together
Here is how we memorize in our family. We review together thoroughly and then give individuals who want one an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge. The kids honestly “fight” for the right to do this. We memorize Bible books and Word Roots (using English from the Roots Up Flashcards, Vol. 1) this way and we plan to memorize many facts together next fall using Classical Conversations.
What has helped your children commit things to memory?
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
