The Crayon Apron

Did you ever have a crayon apron? They were popular in the 60's as a sweet apron for children. My mother made one for me and one for my sister. I remember how special we felt wearing our very utilitarian, yet very pretty aprons. There was a narrow pocket for each crayon in our coloring set. A larger pocket could hold a notepad, scissors, a roll of Scotch tape, or some paste for gluing. Sister and I would fill our pockets and then spend hours creating art projects or pretending we were teachers in a school. The pretending must have influenced our future choices, as sister and I both grew up to become classroom teachers. The apron shown in these pictures are not of our aprons, but rather of a vintage one I purchased recently. Mom made ours out of a tiny floral print. If there was any embellishment, it would have been embroidery or something done in fabric paints. I was excited, though, to find this vintage children's apron. It's exactly the same pattern as the one Mother made for me, just in different fabrics. This was truly an apron that inspired the imagination! Perfect for your homeschool!

Encouragement & Child Behavior

"Encouragement is more important than any other aspect of child rearing. It is so important that the lack of it can be considered the basic cause for misbehavior. A misbehaving child is a discouraged child. Each child needs continuous encouragement, just as a plant needs water. He cannot grow and develop and gain a sense of belonging without encouragement."

Rudolf Dreikurs, child psychiatrist

A Child's Contact with Nature

Edith Schaeffer has always been one of my favorite authors. Recently I discovered that her gift for writing was passed along to her daughter, Susan. In her book For the Children's Sake she reminds us to give our children many opportunities to spend time in nature. And I love how she says it!

"Although we should give a child access to varied creative work by other people, how about seeing that he grows up with as much daily access as possible to his Lord's created works? The Bible is a direct verbal word. But we have a place also for other ways of knowing Him, for "the heavens declare the glory of God."

"Do the children know the feel of dew-fresh grass on their bare feet, and lush freshness of the shade of a leafy tree on a hot afternoon? Do they know the fun of autumn leaves, and the fairy-tale beauty of an icy morning? Wherever the child lives in the world, we should consider his contact with nature as part of his life."

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Children's Sake
page 85

String Theory

I have always appreciated Dr. Kay Kuzma's string theory for promoting obedience and good behavior in children. Here it is:

"Children are like strings; they tend to resist when they feel pushed or forced into doing something. Once they start to resist, the tendency of most parents it to push them all the more, to threaten, to manipulate, to force, and to punish. And the consequence is, the more you push, the more powerless the child feels, and therefore more rebellious."

"There may be times you think pushing or forcing a child results in compliance. But in too many cases it's like the little boy whose dad told him to sit down in church. When the boy kept jumping up, his dad physically pushed the kid into his seat with the command 'I said to sit down!' The little boy sat there, but a few minutes later he could be heart muttering, 'I may be sitting on the outside, but I'm standing on the inside!'"

"Outward compliance accomplished by force doesn't necessarily mean inner compliance, and sooner or later inner defiance causes outward defiance!"

"The key to diminishing a child's stubborn resistance is to remember just how much children and strings are alike. If you push them in the direction you want them to go, they won't do it."

Kay Kuzma, Easy Obedience
page 50

Give it a try! Use the string strategy and don't push. Pull them along by encouraging words instead!

Consistency

"Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next."

Franklin P. Jones

Fostering Independence

"The fastest road to furthering independence in your children is total attention to the needs of your children in their dependent years."

Herbert Ratner

A Sense of Wonder

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.

One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?"

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.

Rachel Carson

Homeschool Formula

As a new school year starts for many, it seems timely to review the core "recipe" for homeschooling. I have always appreciated the one by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, early advocates of home education. Here's their recipe for home-school teaching:

"The requirements are not complex. Parents need only to be loving, responsive, and reasonably consistent, and salt these qualities with a little imagination, common sense, and willingness to follow a few simple suggestions...And don't worry about the opinions of neighbors who don't know or care about the real needs of children. Just be kind to them. Have your children be helpful in your home and in the neighborhood. Visit the old and infirm and ill. Do favors for others without asking any in return. Soon your 'strange antics' will be forgotten...or admired." 

They remind us that:

• "In one sense you are teaching all your waking moments --- as models to your offspring. Yet while some parents are more diligent than others, none need to formally teach a full school day."

And continue with this:

• "Much more important is your working with your children in physical work, helping them learn practical skills and the nobility of work --- building character qualities of initiative, industry, neatness, order, responsibility, and dependability, which are hard to find in even one of ten children or young adults today."

And there's more!

• "Along with these grosser values you can by precept and example teach manners and graces which today are rare --- kindness, thoughtfulness, tact, forgiveness, generosity, and a just plain kind of for-others love. This is seldom done in schools these days. Teach therm how to walk tall, how to listen closely, how to speak graciously. Paul was not gesturing idly when he wrote Philippians 4:8, 'Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;...think on these things.'"

Using the Moore Formula of work, study, and service, children have been found to excel academically and socially. For more on this subject, it's recommended that you establish your foundation and philosophy for homeschooling by reading several of the books Raymond and Dorothy Moore have written on homeschooling. 

The quotes above are from the book "Home-Spun Schools" page 12 - 13.

Teachable Parents

"Blessed are those parents who are teachable, for knowledge brings understanding, and understanding brings love."

Old Union Reminder

Furthering Independence

"The fastest road to furthering independence in your children is total attention to the needs of your children in their dependent years."

Herbert Ratner

Quality of Family Life

"Parents must decide what quality of family life they will have and then use the necessary discipline to accomplish this. Otherwise life will push the family in diverse directions, and they will be victims rather than disciples.

Gladys Hunt
Hondy for a Child's Heart

Tasting Parties and Language Arts

Tasting parties are a fun way to expand a child's food experiences and to reinforce verbal skills. They also assist the child in developing problem-solving skills. To conduct a tasting party, the parent-teacher selects a variety of foods, both familiar and new. Care should be taken to select foods that have varying qualities and flavors. Variety is key! Generally, it is best to stick to sliced, whole foods rather than mixtures and blends. To participate, the child is blind-folded and then given a food to taste. From their bite of food, they guess what it is and then use as many ADJECTIVES as they can to describe it. Have them describe flavors and textures. It is fun for them to rate each food on a scale of 1 - 10. The teacher-parent can place the items in order (or make a list) so that the child can see and evaluate how they rated the food tasted after the tasting party. They might be surprised which food(s) they liked best! 

Here are words that the teacher-parent can use to guide the child with their descriptions:

• Flavor:  tart, bitter, spicy, bland, sweet, salty, mild, tangy, blend, mellow, sour
• Texture:  mealy, smooth, tender, crisp, rough, wet, stiff, hard, lumpy, tough, stringy, dry, compressed, mushy, soft, creamy, firm, crunchy, moist, granular, sticky
• Mixtures:  batter, dough, sauce, gel

Teaching Reading

It is vitally important that children be taught to read, and to read well.  There is shocking evidence that 60 million individuals in the United States, or one-third of the entire population, cannot read.  This high rate of illiteracy prevents individuals from reaching their full potential in life and in the job market.  It is a frightening reality, especially for parents of school-age children.  As a home educator, the teacher-parent may find that teaching reading is one of the most daunting tasks that takes place in a homeschool.  It takes time to give children the building blocks necessary to teach them to read.  For most children the ability to read does not happen overnight, but rather is a process that takes place in stages as they are offered tools for learning and time to internalize and apply what they have learned.  This ability is the foundation of all future learning.  It is possible that children can read and read extremely well! 

It becomes the responsibility of the parent to teach their children to read. Some key elements in teaching reading are:

• Talk to the child a lot from birth and as they develop and grow. This provides the foundation of linguistic information. By listening, a child absorbs the language, accent, and grammar of those who surround him.
• Preparation for reading starts at a very young age. Sensory stimulation is important. Whether it be in the form of a red, black, and white mobile that hangs over a child's crib, or something as simple as turning a light off and on to stimulate the pupillary reflex, activities that encourage development assist in developing overall intelligence and ability. Geometric shapes and the contrast of black and white are some of the first visual items that an infant recognizes. Studies also show that crawling is very important for babies. An infant should be allowed to be on his stomach, on the floor, as much as possible. Crawling helps a child develop neurologically, and it is instrumental in the development of visual pathways to the brain. As children grow, other forms of physical activity, like swinging, climbing, bouncing, jumping, rolling, and gymnastics also assist in neurological development. The development of gross motor skills is vital for youngsters. Strong neural pathways assist the child in becoming a good reader.
• Make sure that words are visible to children of all ages. Small words on a book are not always easy for a developing youngster, so care should be taken to provide opportunity for children to see words in large print and in bright colors. Expose children to written words in their daily life at an early age, just as as you surround them with verbal information. Point out signs, words on cereal boxes, notes on the fridge, and so on. Make them aware that words exist and that they are a valuable part of life.
• Read to your child, starting from infancy. Books can be either commercial or those that you write yourself (large, colorful words). Make reading a daily routine. This establishes value and importance on the task.  This example teaches your child what books are for. Read to them with enthusiasm, changing your voice to express the personality of each character in the book. Use your finger to underline the words as you read out loud, as this teaches the child that words flow in a certain pattern, going from left to right, and from top to bottom of the page. Read frequently and for as long as you keep a child's attention. Reading is one of the foundations of an intelligent individual. Reading to your child is a key component in creating a good reader.
• Tie together the importance of sounds (language) and reading (words) by teaching children phonics.  Instead of teaching the alphabet, skip that task and instead teach the child the letter sounds. You can go with the same sequence of A,B,C. But, instead of saying the name of the letters, model the sounds of the words instead.  If a letter has more than one sound, give them both in sequence. For example, say the sound for soft-sound A then long-sound A, then the sound for the letter B, and sound for soft-sound C and then long-sound C.  Continue through the alphabet. This is an activity that can be set to the music of a favorite song and it should be a routine that is established daily and from a young age. As children grow and you prepare them for more formal reading, the phonetic foundation will have been established. After the alphabet sounds are learned, move on to the more advanced phonograms and teach them with their phonics rules.
• Encourage initial reading experiences using books that are phonetically based and have been written so that the child recognizes the phonograms learned. A phonics reading program such as this free, online reading resource helps the child flow naturally into putting sounds together into words, sentences, and paragraphs. Reading becomes a natural process with this approach.
• Give the child opportunities each day to read out loud to you! Short periods of time throughout the day will be more productive than one longer period of time. For the best in productive learning, always quit the activity before your child is ready to quit! Diminished interest on the child's part is never productive. The key to a pleasurable reading experience is to keep the child motivated and eager. Taking turns with the parent in reading a story is a great way to teach a child to read.
• Pace the learning experience according to your child's needs. If a child was interested in learning, and then you see a diminished interest, it is a cue that the child is experiencing boredom and that it is time to quicken the pace and teach him new concepts. Boredom can indicate that the child already knows the information.  But be aware that there are other reasons for boredom, making it clear that you need to keep in-tune with your child and their needs. Boredom can also result when a child doesn't understand the information being presented. It can also mean that your child sees no useful application for the information being taught. Thus, it is important to clarify concepts as you go along and to help the child see their importance and how it applies to daily life. Interest in a subject goes a long way in helping a child focus their attention.
• Remember that all words a child is being taught to read should have meaning to him. If a child doesn't know that Istanbul is the name of a city in Turkey, it will have no meaning to him. Explain the meaning of words they may not understand. Make reading meaningful. Start out with familiar words and move on from their. Words don't have to be simple to be meaningful and read at an early age. If the child has a dog named Liberated, that becomes a good reading word even though it is not generally a word the beginning reader uses, because the child can associate the word with something that is meaningful to him. Introduce new words at a pace that prevents boredom but that does not overwhelm.
• Games and drills can be fun for a child learning to read! Phonogram flashcards can be laid flat on a counter top with pennies, nickles, quarters, and dimes underneath. Take turns with the child in selecting a card and verbalizing the sound of the letter or letters being presented. If the sound given is correct, the child gets to keep the coin below the card.  See who can collect the most money (teacher-parent, child, or sibling).  If you don't want to use actual money, school tokens could be made instead. Other games like Go-Fish, flashcard games, or pocket games can all be used in teaching phonics and/or sight-see words.  Reading game ideas can be found online if you have trouble coming up with ideas on your own.
• Practice, practice, practice. Reading aloud to your child is as important as having your child read back to you. Read throughout the day, not just from books but from signs, packages, posters, and more. Make reading fun for both you and your child. Make reading a delight! Not only will you be creating happy memories with your child, but you will be establishing a foundation of learning that will serve your child well for years to come.

God as Your School Teacher

Christians look to the creation of Adam and Eve as an example of individuals made in the image of God.  Their garden home and how they lived in it are a model to the human race.  Adam and Eve were students of the Creator of the universe.  The garden of Eden was their classroom and nature was their textbook.  Can you fathom how amazing it would be to have God as your school teacher?  What an opportunity!  The one who created everything and who had all knowledge taught to His creation the secrets of the universe.  Chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, biology, art design, history of the universe, music, philosophy, language, are only a sampling of subjects that Adam and Eve studied in their communion with God as their teacher.  

As we observe the life of Adam and Eve before sin entered the world, we discover that God commissioned  Adam and Eve to take care of the garden [Genesis 2:15].  Although they lived in a sinless, perfect world, they were not left to languish in a field of flowers!  They were given the assignment of learning the secrets of the universe [study].  Useful employment was given to them, as they were to take care of the garden [work].  God’s love reflected upon their hearts as they cared for one another in perfect love [service to others].  

God designed the lessons He taught them in their Eden home to teach them completely, encompassing their intellect, physical strength, and spirit in communion with Him and with one another.  The garden of Eden represented all that God desired for mankind.  The desire of His heart was that Adam and Eve would have children, grandchildren, and future descendants that would establish homes and schools just like the one He modeled for them, and that they would reflect the knowledge of His glory.  The first school was of the God of creation.

Counts & Counted

Not everything that
can be counted counts,
and not everything that
counts can be counted.

Albert Einstein

Flubber Fun!

Cabin fever can hit the homeschool family in January. It's a time when family pets and parents feel like nesting in front of a cozy fire! But kids don't usually feel that way. With so much energy, it's a good time to measure and mix in the kitchen. Math skills can be developed while creating recipes for creative and fun play.

Flubber Fun

1 cup Elmer's white glue
1 1/3 cup warm water
food coloring
2 tsp. Borax
2 glass bowls

In one bowl, mix the glue, 2/3 cup warm water, and food coloring together. In the other bowl, mix the Borax with the remaining 2/3 cup warm water. Pour the glue solution into the bowl containing the Borax mixture. Stir until mixed. Then, let mixture rest so that the stretchy flubber can set. 

Enjoy hours of creative fun with your kids!

Courtesy & Respect

"Always remember that persons matter more than things. Don't say anything that will leave a sting."

Charlotte Mason

Writing a Book

Digital technology has opened up the world. We are able to send instant messages, share photos, and post on personal websites and blogs. Friendships are formed and creativity enhanced. It has also provided many with opportunities to publish. Several of my friends have written their own books. Clarice from Storybook Woods has written a delightful book called "Wren Bay". You might remember one of my blog posts where I reviewed her book. Wren Bay, the story of making a home, portrays charm, creativity, and warmth. It is skillfully mixed with grace and elegance, with a true mix of practicality, economy, and the careful use of natural resources.  Another friend, Marilyn from Delights of the Heart also authored a book. It's called "Tea Party in Your Cupboard" and is filled with ideas for creating impromptu tea parties with products generally found in your cupboard. She includes recipes from her own kitchen.

Clarice and Marilyn inspired me to give it a try! Step one is finding a publishing company online. There are several reliable companies that provide this service. Check out amazon.com, lulu.com, and blurb.com as a start. They offer simple instructions about writing, layout, color, and publishing.

My book is a simple "coffee table" book, although I should be calling it a "tea table" book instead! 

Since my book is simple, I wrote it in a way similar to writing a short story, article, or blog post. My main intent was to find a way to use some of my favorite tea themed photos. Therefore, my book was about tea and I called it "Steeped in Tea & Friendship". It was not only a labor of love, but labor intense as well. That surprised me, as I thought something as simple as my little book wouldn't take much time. I wrote about tea themes and included some of my favorite tea quotes. I enjoyed sitting for an hour or two at my computer each evening and adding to "my book". 

I enjoyed choosing photos and prose for each set of pages. Each pair was laid out by theme like an Asian tea, royal wedding, tea and sewing at a friend's house, or family tea times at the cabin.

Although I only published ten copies which I gave to family and friends for Christmas, I now feel like I have had an interesting peek into the world of self-publishing. It was a fun creative process! I treasure my copy and keep in on my "tea table" to enjoy during quiet moments of the day.

The resources available for publishing from your home computer are endless. And just think of the possibilities that homeschoolers have available to them if they choose to self-publish. Ideas abound! What a great way to teach across the curriculum. How about having your student(s) write a publish 

• a cookbook of their favorite cookie recipes (math, language arts, art, photography)
• a journal of a family vacation (social studies, language arts)
• a short story with illustrations done with colored pencil or photo they take (art, language arts)
• a book of riddles using story problems the student(s) write (math, language arts)
• a themed book on a subject enjoyed by your student(s); themes could include subjects like Lego creations, pets, wild animals, motorcycles, American Girl dolls, etc.

Have you considered writing a book in your homeschool? Please share!

New Beginnings

Wishing you awesome days of homeschooling as the New Year begins! May God's blessing warm your home. And may creativity, inquiry, and application be ingredients in your home school! New beginnings.