Spring may finally be here! Some of what’s hot this week is perfect for those of you with spring fever. Thank you to everyone who linked up last week! If you are featured this week, please grab a button from the bottom of the blog. Want to get even more hot homeschooling goodness? Follow the What’s Hot in Homeschooling board on Pinterest!
Homeschool Circus shares further encouragement for us based on Scripture. This would be great to print out and read instead of gorging yourself on chocolate!
Ever wonder what a mom who was homeschooled would use to teach her own children? Wonder no longer! The moms at NextGen Homeschool share their experiences.
Speaking of curriculum, few things are more exciting than the word FREE. Guest Hollow has made a variety of curricula (history, science, math) available at no charge. I’m particularly interested in the ancient history for next year as it can be used with Mystery of History (and also Story of the World).
Now it’s your turn! Link up what’s hot in your homeschool this week. Link to this post or use the What’s Hot button on the bottom right.
Will spring EVER arrive? Maybe doing some of the crafts I’m featuring this week will help us wait patiently. Many thanks to the bloggers who linked up this week. If you aren’t a blogger and find a must-read article or resource, please share in the comments. This time of year, we can use all the sanity we can get!
Jennifer Janes has created a reassuring guide to teaching a special needs child at home. She’s really nice, so be sure to ask any questions you have in the comments.
Speaking of the kitchen, try making these adorable and seemingly easy-to-make chicks using Nutter Butter cookies. Thanks to Ashley of Life with Moore Babies for the idea.
Before you leave the kitchen, grab a seed catalog or two and do this simple craft that will put some spring in your house. Thanks to Teacher@Home for linking up this great idea.
I’ve found so much hot homeschooling stuff this week that I had to save some of it for next week! Thanks so much for the link-ups. Please keep sharing the great ideas! Click the titles of the articles that interest you and leave a comment for the blogger or share these sanity savers with other homeschoolers.
I’ve never been much of a St. Pat’s fan. But the winter has been extending its stay into spring and my kids need a day of refreshing fun. So I’ll be going green for a day. How about you? Nicole of Mama of Many Blessings shares a great lineup of ideas for us.
Are you heading to a homeschool convention this spring or summer? I’ve been going for so many years and I still get excited. Heather Bowen shares some great advice at Homeschool Village for getting the most out of a convention and the coolest thing ever–a printable to help you stay organized. I’m so using this!
It’s wonderful to be able to homeschool in every room of your house. What isn’t as wonderful is having every room of your house LOOK like a school room. Stacey at Layered Soul has some real life examples for keeping your stuff accessible, but out of sight.
Carol Anne’s post at Confessions of a Fraidy Cat really touched me because she shares the emotions so many mothers have when they wonder if there’s something different about their child.
I found this great website for educational downloads and was inspired by how one teacher used her materials. From the newsletter: “Meet this week’s Featured Teacher, Jodi Southard. Jodi has raised over $10,000 through her TpT store to contribute toward covering the medical expenses of a young child, a sibling of one of her students, who needs a heart transplant. Twenty-one generous TpT Sellers supported her efforts by donating products toward her drive. She raised the money in about a week.
Speaking of downloads, Felicia at Princess and the Rock has some great worksheets and a game that will keep your kids interested in writing this week. If you have any to link up, please share them with her.
Now link up what’s hot on your homeschool blog this week!
Please grab the What’s Hot button from the right footer of Psychowith6 or link to this post. Visit at least one another link. Thanks so much for sharing.
This week, I have some great get-real articles for you and an opportunity for fellow homeschool bloggers to link up and share what’s hot on their own sites. I’ll highlight the best articles in next week’s issue. As always, click the article titles to read and if you love them, comment or share the hotness! God bless your homeschooling this week.
Elizabeth at the Hesitant Housewife offers no solutions. She admits, it’s just hard. Having homeschooled with five different toddlers around, I will tell you that’s the truth. Go ahead and try different approaches, but your best bet may be to hang on until the ride’s over.
In the same vein, Elizabeth shares an unretouched view of homeschooling on Hip Homechool Moms. I know you don’t think so now, but those photos will become your prized possessions.
Stick figure art is all the rage, and as an art underachiever, I couldn’t be more thrilled. I love the idea of kids creating stick figures to help them remember Scripture. Check it out at The Curriculum Choice. It’s on my list of Bible curriculum to explore for next year.
Whether you’ve read the book, seen the movie, or just plan to, Homegrown Learners has a neat unit study for you, complete with picture of the smiling owner of a project prize for completing it.
Dealing with physicians and other health professionals poses a unique set of challenges to homeschoolers. In short, it can be scary! Heather Laurie offers us an empowering perspective in this The Old Schoolhouse article.
Link up!
Have a hot article, tip, or resource to share? Please enter it below and either include my blog button or the link to this post in your own post or website. Please also visit at least one other link and thank them for the hot idea!
God bless your homeschooling this week!
<a href=”https://psychowith6.com/category/homeschooling/whats-hot/” target=”_blank”><img src=”https://psychowith6.com/wp-content/uploads/Hot-HSing-Button.jpg” alt=”What’s Hot in Homeschooling” width=”125″ height=”125″ /></a>
Are Your Kids and Grandkids Getting Enough Exercise?
Kids spend a big part of the day sitting doing school. Even if your child participates in sports, they may not be spending enough time moving. But don’t worry, you don’t have to add another sport to your already busy schedule. There are simple strategies for squeezing in more fitness time.
Lift weights. You’ve probably heard that lifting weights is for kids in their late teens only, and if you’ve seen any videos of kids who have taken fitness to extremes, you probably believe that’s good advice. But just as weight training is vitally important for adult fitness, lifting light weights in a controlled manner is important for kids. Strong Kids, Healthy Kids presents evidence that slow weight training is particularly suited to children because the light weights and repetitions avoid injury. What’s even better for busy parents is that slow weight training gets results in less workout time than traditional exercise. Using forms to track kids’ progress is especially motivating for them.
Do pushups. While I’m tempted to add other superb exercises like squats and sit-ups to this list, pushups alone are a fantastic form of exercise. They strengthen the entire upper body and the core. One way my husband has motivated our kids to stay fit doing pushups is to pay them for doing a certain number of pushups a day for a month. Of course, you wouldn’t want to use this strategy for life (you could go broke quickly!), but offering a reward is a great way to jump start your kids’ interest in fitness. Once they’ve gotten good at pushups, have them move up to doing burpees.
Use a kids’ video. I’ve tried out a number of kids’ videos, and I really like Kick to Get Fit for Kids. It’s very instructional and what kid doesn’t like to kick? Some kids like to kick too much (like my son in the video who kept “accidentally” kicking his sister), so make sure you allow plenty of room. I like to have the kids workout with this during our mid-morning break if the weather isn’t cooperating.
Make it routine. One of my friends has her kids run a pre-planned circuit through the neighborhood each morning and keeps track of their time. I like to have the kids use the trampoline or play outdoor games during our mid-morning recess. The key is doing a little exercise on a regular basis.
Take up a family sport. Having one child play soccer while the family watches from the sidelines isn’t a family sport, despite the fact that team sports are rewarding in other ways. Playing a sport or enjoying an exercise activity together is not only wonderful for your child’s fitness, but builds family closeness. Our family loves tennis, bike riding, and hiking. There are so many options! If you aren’t sure what to do, make it a family project to try lots of activities until you find the one that works.
Play fitness games together. I mentioned in a post on getting your child’s screen time under control that we originally bought the kids a Wii thinking that it would keep the kids active. Unfortunately, the inactive games soon became more popular. But we’ve noticed that if Mom or Dad or aunts or grandparents will play with our kids, they love the active games again. Dance games can really be a lot of fun (kids love it when we make fools of ourselves) and what’s better is that you’ll get more exercise, too. You know you need it! We all do.
How do you get your kids to spend more time exercising?
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.
