Jul 30 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 31 – Homeschool 101

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

A new school year is upon us. So many more people are considering homeschooling these days. I see questions on homeschool support Facebook groups or Yahoo groups all the time. Where do I start? Which curriculum should I get? What do you recommend for my fifth grader? What do I DO?

If you are just starting out and not sure which questions to even ask, click here for a 10-step process to divide and conquer homeschooling.

As we started our third year homeschooling, I felt my own tension and apprehension and let-us-get-it-done spirit take over. What adds to my trepidation is that I have to figure out how to do school with two now. They are only in second grade and kindergarten, which means they need me to hover over them as they learn. By middle school, I hope to work toward more independent work, but until then I have to be there to teach them the 3Rs. Continue reading »

Jul 29 2015

Notebooking Pages Best Offer

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

As you look down the long corridor of another school year approaching fast, I wonder if you fear burnout and busywork. If you do, there are ways to make sure burnout does not rear its ugly head. As to busywork, there’s always notebooking.

I feel compelled to let you know about the best offer from Notebooking Pages: a lifetime membership for only $97. When you compare this with any other membership sites, it is a bargain. If you have two children like I do, and you start using these notebooking pages in the second grade, the cost per year per child gets really, really low.

This sale starts on July 29 and ends on August 7, 2015. You get to SAVE $25 on a Notebooking Pages LIFETIME Membership. As such you will receive all current & future notebooking products PLUS 2 bonuses:
Bonus 1: 12 months free subscription to The Notebooking Publisher web-app Continue reading »

Jul 23 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 30 – Kids and Money

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

Any thinking adult knows children should be taught about handling money, but where do you start? How? When? Money experts agree that children must be taught about money as early as age 3.

You start by giving them an allowance, usually their age in dollars per week, or half of that. Dave Ramsey advises against an allowance, but we have chosen to give one because it is one more way to discipline them. Back talking? That will cost you a dollar from your allowance. Refusing to do chores? I will have to take some of your money to pay your sibling for doing your work.

By the way, we don’t link allowance to chores. It’s two different things. Should allowance be tied to chores? You decide after reading this debate on the Wall Street Journal.

Chores are split into two categories: Continue reading »

Jul 19 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 2, Chapter 2

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

Chapter 2 of SOTW Volume 2 deals with the British Isles as they got invaded by Anglo-Saxons. There are two stories in the chapter, one being the one about Beowulf.

We worked on coloring Beowulf and did the map work. I also printed out the brooch design for them to color. We were supposed to make brooches for their Celtic cloaks, but we gave up. Sometimes you just have to say, we have read, we have colored, we have worked on the map, we are done. Nothing bad will happen to you if you don’t do a craft for history.

Beowulf colored by my five-year-old

I just want to send this message out there into the blogosphere. I am not super mom. I don’t do everything required in a history curriculum. This marks an important step in my homeschooling journey, as I am naturally inclined to dot every i and cross every t. But, with everything else we have going on this summer, I have to organize my priorities and some things have to go.

We can run around trying to do so many things and then we end up close to burnout before the school even started. Summer can be a bit too busy, I think. And I am not even doing everything I thought would be nice to try.

Speaking of requirements, one book per week to read from the suggested list is enough. I heard it from the mouth of this curriculum’s creator, Susan Wise Bauer herself.

Celtic brooch materials all ready to go… before I gave up

So take heart, homeschooling mom, you are not the only one cutting corners. Some days are low energy, other days are just full of so much to do. You may want to tackle it all, but something has to give. Again, nothing bad will happen if we don’t do a craft for every chapter in our history book. Can you tell I am actually writing this for my own benefit?

Jul 19 2015

Accountable Kids Review

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

I have written on my blog several times about Accountable Kids but it has been briefly, just in passing, i.e. we use it and are happy with it. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, I rate it at 5. I think the time has come for me to share with you more in-depth about it. This program is for children ages 3-14. I started using it four years ago, when my oldest was 3 and my second was still a baby. Obviously, the baby could not do much with it. So we only bought one kit.

Accountable Kids board and cards

The kit contains a wooden board with five pegs, cards to hang on the different pegs, and a book. I highly recommend the book before you start the program with the children, not just so that you may understand what you are trying to accomplish, but to learn more about childhood phases, how you should think on your children’s level and many other parenting tips.

Accountable Kids Book

The Accountable Kids program has helped me (1) prioritize and schedule chores, (2) motivate my children, (3) hold them accountable for their behavior, (4) reward them for positive behavior and (5) build a forum for addressing negative behavior. It is not just a chore chart, mind you. Continue reading »

Jul 16 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 29 – Nesting

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

For the new school year, I am getting ready. This nesting instinct came over me last week and it won’t let go. I am de-cluttering, going through closets, sorting, organizing, filling up bags for our local thrift store and feeling extremely happy in the process.

I printed out my chore charts and talked it over with the children. They are old enough to be allowed to choose the chores they are willing to do (beside the ones they must do) and they are young enough to be eager to help. It is the golden age of early childhood and I am riding the wave.

If you have not yet downloaded my book which prepares your home and your school for the new school year, 21 Days to Jumpstart Your School, now is the time. This little book will guide you through three weeks of focused organization so that you can feel empowered to start homeschooling.

Now if you will excuse me, I have some organizing to do…

Jul 15 2015

Art Curriculum for Homeschoolers

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

If you are anything like me, art is not exactly your forte. After looking around for several years, I have finally decided that the best way to teach art is by doing a combination of the following:

art projects from the internet
art workshops for children organized in our town throughout the year, by different entities, usually for free
arts and crafts for our history curriculum
art appreciation books
Home Art Studio DVDs

I recently ordered First Grade and Second Grade, and received a third DVD for free: the Holiday Arts and Crafts. They have a special offer going on right now and I think it is a great deal.

I can only encourage you to give this a try. For $29.99 per DVD set, you receive almost 20 lessons, PDF lesson plans, virtual art field trips and more. If you do any price comparison at all, you will know that this is a great deal. I like the convenience of staying home and not having to drive to an art studio rain or shine, where my children have to share the space with five to ten other homeschoolers. Continue reading »

Jul 9 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 28 – Teach Me, Mom!

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

A homeschooling mom’s dream come true: “Mom, we have not done school in there – pointing to the office we use as school room – in a long time. Tomorrow, I want you to teach me in that room, OK? I want to do math and spelling, OK?” This is one time when I don’t request my children say “please” at the end of their plea. By the way, said plea came from my son who is enjoying a great summer break with swimming on a swim team, youth camp, Summer Reading Program workshops at our local library, nature study, Little Bits experiments and violin and piano practice.

Yes, we are learning a lot through the summer. Just not in “that room.”

So what happened? Why the plea for math and spelling? Continue reading »

Jul 7 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 2, Chapter 1

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

We started the second volume of Story of the World during what is officially our summer break because (1) my children asked for history and (2) the textbook has 42 chapters while the school year only has 36 weeks. It is recommended that we cover one chapter per week, so we need to cover six chapters before we start our new school year in August. Of course, nothing bad happens if we get behind or if we finish the textbook after we close our 180 days of school next year…

But when my five-year-old says, “Mommy, we have not done history in a long time. We need to do history!” and when my son says, “When do we start studying about the Middle Ages, mom?” I know it is time to start photocopying the activity pages and order extra reading material from the library.

I printed out a picture of them so we can glue their faces onto the page provided.

Just to clarify, the Activity Book gives parents permission to photocopy activity pages (maps, coloring, craft patterns, paper dolls etc) for the needs of their family. Also in the Activity Book one can find lists of corresponding literature, fiction and non fiction, which one can purchase or borrow from the library, to enhance the study of each chapter. Continue reading »

Jul 2 2015

Workshop Slides

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Adriana Zoder

As of this week, Homeschool Ways added another tab to the main menu: Workshops.

This tab will offer my readers the slides I use during my workshops, in PDF form.

Feel free to use them, but please mention your source, HomeschoolWays.com, and my name, Adriana Zoder.

If you have any questions about some of the concepts listed, please feel free to email me – blog at homeschoolways dot com.

Check back often, as I will develop new seminars and upload the slides there.

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