TheHomeSchoolMom's Free Homeschool Resources - January, 2010
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Contents ~~~~
- From the Editor
- Website Updates
- Homeschool Science Academy (Our Sponsor)
- Educational Resources
- Work At Home United (Our Sponsor)
- Recently Seen Online
- Article - When Your Perfect Homeschool Plan Isn’t Going So Perfectly by Charmaine Wistad
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1. From the Editor
Here in Virginia we had a record snowfall just before Christmas and it was nice to be snowed in for a couple of days to escape all the usual busyness of the season. The roads were clear in time to take care of last minute purchases, but the quiet beauty of the snowfall was wonderful to enjoy for a few days. Now that January is here, it is time for renewing focus on home and school, getting organized, evaluating progress, and moving forward with the school year. I hope the resources in the newsletter this month will help you to accomplish that, but first I'd like to let you know about a couple of limited time special offers that can help you get organized at home.
Was 2009 a year in which you found yourself unprepared for dinner at 5pm, wondering what you could possibly throw together quickly? It is so easy in the midst of school and activities to let dinner planning slide. To help you start out right in 2010, we would like to help you get organized in the kitchen! You probably are aware the Menus4Moms is a partner site to TheHomeSchoolMom, and our Busy Mom Menu is very popular among homeschool moms. Each menu plan includes recipes with color photographs, grocery lists, nutrition data including dietary exchanges, meal makeovers and periodic bonuses. The Busy Mom Menu can turn a frazzled homeschool mom into an organized cook. Listen to what Dawn has to say about Menus4Moms:
I have tried other menu planning systems and have never found anything else that works for us the way menus4moms does.We love the recipes and love the common sense approach to using leftovers and freezer cooking. I recommend the site to EVERYONE!
For a limited time, you can try the Busy Mom Menu for a whole month for only a penny . We have never offered a full month trial period before and this offer will not last long! (Before you decide, be sure to check out the Living on a Dime offer and our special bonus offer below.)
Another way I hope to help is this great offer: I got together with Tawra
from LivingOnADime.com and we set up a special deal to get her
Dining On A Dime and Dig Out of Debt e-books.
Until midnight on Thursday, January 7th, you can get Dining On A
Dime e-Cookbook and Dig Out of Debt e-book for 70% OFF
(yes, you read that right) along with 5 bonus ebooks from Living on a Dime.
We're holding this special sale as a way of saying thank you for
being a subscriber and to try to encourage you on your goals for
the New Year. If you have a goal to start eating better, get out of
debt, save money or get your home in order, you won't want to miss
this fantastic sale! Here's where you can grab your copies and save 70%:
http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/links/index.php?id=lod70
~ Special Bonus Offer ~ If you take advantage of both of these great offers before Thursday, January 7, I will throw in 2 wonderful bonuses for you: Frugal Mom's Guide to Once a Month Cooking and Menus4Moms' Bulk Cooking for the Freezer: Ground Beef! All you have to do is email me and let me know that you took advantage of both offers and I will provide you with a download link to both ebooks.
I hope you enjoy the newsletter and that 2010 is your best year yet!
Warm regards,
Mary Ann Kelley
Editor
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2. TheHomeSchoolMom.com Website Updates
Teaching Calendar
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3. Homeschool Science Academy
(our sponsor)
 |
Unique Online Science Classes Begin Mid-January
=> Young Scientist Anatomy & Physiology (4th-6th Grade)
=> Pre-Chemistry (6th-9th Grade)
=> Anatomy & Physiology (9th-12th Grade)
=> CLEP / ACT Science Prep (10th-12th Grade)
=> Forensic Anatomy (8th-12th Grade)
Summer Anatomy & Physiology Camp in North Carolina!
Free Online Seminar: "Top 10 Homeschooling Mistakes"
===> Please Visit Our Site For Details..
http://www.HomeschoolScienceAcademy.com |
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4. Educational Resources
Winter Pages for Mom's Home Journal
Debra at NotebookingPages.com put together this group of freebies for her newsletter subscribers and has given me a special link to allow me to share it with my subscribers. It's a great sampler pack of pages for your home organization journal, including calendar, to do, and meal pages among others.
http://www.notebookingpages.com/index.php?page=hsmom-janfreebie
Ditching Grade Levels by Age
Grade level assignments by age make it easy for public schools to teach children while keeping them safe. After all, classrooms have large numbers of children in them. Homeschoolers, however, have the luxury of choosing who they teach, how they teach and what they teach! Other than the fact that a grade level by age curriculum is easier on mom or dad, is there really a compelling reason to stick with this regime? Here are 10 reasons why homeschoolers should ditch grade level assignment by age.
http://spottybanana.com/2009/06/10/10-reasons-why-homeschoolers-should-ditch-grade-level-assignment-by-age/
Bagatrix Algebra, Trig, and Calculus Problem Solvers
Enter your own math problems and check your answers using their free online solving websites.
http://www.bagatrix.com/tools.htm
12 Brain Rules
"The brain is an amazing thing. Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know... Brain Rules is about what we know for sure, and what we might do about it." Even without the Brain Rules book, this is an informative list of the 12 Brain Rules and information about each that can help you take advantage of them.
http://brainrules.net/
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5.
Work At Home United
(Our Sponsor)
 |
Work At Home and create your own hours and income!
- No Selling, No Inventory, No Home Parties, No Risk
- Unlimited Free Support and Resources, including
- Free Websites for Marketing, Free Tools, and Free Support.
- Ideal for Home School Parents in need of extra income
Request More Information:
http://www.Home4Kids.com |
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6. Recently Seen Online
Burden of Safety Law Imperils Small Toymakers
For 35 years, William John Woods has made wooden toys for children. Each one of the 2,000 or so he makes each year passes through his hands at his shop in Ogunquit, Maine, and no child, he said, has ever been hurt by one of his small boats, cars, helicopters or rattles. William John Woods owns Ogunquit Wooden Toy, which makes handcrafted wood planes and cars. He and other small toymakers are complaining about new federal safety regulations for toys. But now he and others like him - makers of small toys and owners of toy resale shops and boutique stores - say their livelihood is being threatened by federal legislation enacted in the last year to protect children from toxic toys through more extensive testing.
At 11, Portland's Michael Kepler Meo already has a date with Houston Grand Opera
"At 11, Mike already is getting big parts. Last winter, he sang the role of Miles in Portland Opera's compelling production of 'The Turn of the Screw.' Miles is a key role in Benjamin Britten's cryptic tale of unspecified abuse of a young brother and sister in a rural English manor, and Mike mastered the difficult music with a mature performance. 'He's a natural on the stage,' says Rob Ainsley, who coached him for the production. Ainsley, Portland Opera's chorus master and principal coach, was a boy soprano himself when he was growing up in Durham, England... Each weekday before lunch, Mike, who is homeschooled, practices piano, guitar and voice for an hour and 45 minutes."
See more on TheHomeSchoolMom.com
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7. Article - When Your Perfect Homeschool Plan Isn’t Going So Perfectly
by Charmaine Wistad
Most of us start the school year with great plans and high hopes but it often doesn’t take very long to realize that we just don’t live in a perfect homeschooling world.
Are any of the following true for you?
- Your children don’t like the curriculum.
- You don’t like the curriculum.
- Your meticulous scheduling isn’t working out very well.
- There are too many interruptions during the day.
- You’re already feeling isolated and cooped up.
- The house is getting messier by the moment.
- You are irritable and overreacting to minor issues.
If you see yourself in any (or all!) of the above scenarios, don’t despair. Read on for some ideas to help you move beyond these road blocks.
- Be flexible. If something isn’t working, be willing to try something different. If there are tears or tensions on either side, put aside whatever you are working on and take a breather. Try playing a game, reading aloud from a funny book or going to the park. Remember why you are homeschooling! This is a whole-life experience and if you stop for one day it is not going to ruin any child’s life.
- Limit scheduled activities. When the schedule starts feeling overwhelmingly full, you have the power to control it. Homeschool moms have a tendency to schedule way too many activities both inside and outside the home. Look over your schedule carefully and decide what is really necessary. Say no to the ‘good things’ so you can say yes to the ‘great things.’
- Get support. Get Dad involved (but you’re going to have to TELL him that you need his support and help; he’s not likely to just pick up on it). Join and attend your local Homeschool Support Group. No group in your area? Join an on-line support group or a telephone support group. YahooGroups.com has many homeschool related email groups. Hire a Life Coach who specializes in helping homeschool moms.
- Change your teaching style or curriculum. If the curriculum isn’t working, give yourself permission to stop using it. Mary Pride suggests asking yourself: “Am I overdoing it? Am I making simple subjects too fancy? What can I eliminate? Do I need to be doing this at all? Is my child not ready for this subject? Should I give it a rest? Are there other worthwhile things we would like to study or do and come back to this later?”
- Engage everyone in the household chores. Don’t do everything yourself! Take time every day to train the children to pick up their rooms, do simple chores and keep the house in a general state of order. It is well worth the time and energy it takes to get this part of your homeschool life organized.
When motherhood, homeschooling or life in general is overwhelming, stop and simplify. So often when we see problems in our life, our tendency is to try and do a major overhaul. Take some good advice from Charlotte Mason: implement only one new habit or idea at a time. With focus, diligence and consistency you will soon see improvement in this one area and you will not feel overwhelmed by trying to change too many things at once. When the new habit is solid in your life, go ahead and move on to another one….but JUST ONE. Success in changing habits depends on setting one small goal at a time and achieving it.
Charmaine Wistad has successfully homeschooled her own two children from pre-school through high school. Now she is turning her attention toward helping other homeschool moms. Through personal coaching, Charmaine helps homeschooling moms thrive… not just survive! Visit her website to try a complimentary no-obligation telephone coaching session.
Source: http://www.homeschool-articles.com/
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