Archive for the ‘Homeschooling’ Category

What Style of Homeschooling?

Thursday, March 14th, 2024

style-of-homeschooling

What style of homeschooling fits your family the best? Here is a crash mini-course that describes each style of homeschooling, along with the pros and cons. It’s important to understand what type of homeschooling suits your family the best. It will depend on your own philosophy of education, and well as the learning styles and personalities of your kids.

1. Textbook Approach

Textbook Approach:
– Uses textbooks and workbooks to teach all subjects.
– Highly structured, age-graded with scope and sequence.

Pros:
– Feels like a safe choice because the schools use it.
– If not sure about homeschooling, easier to transition back to school.
– Great for math for all ages (systematic) and high school sciences.

Cons:
– A huge amount of material is covered in a superficial way.
The same topics are covered year after year.
– Information-dense reading is lifeless compared to living books and real-life projects.
– Tests and quizzes are based on trivia; original thinking is discouraged.
– Lots of grading for the parent; the school day lasts longer than most other approaches.

2. Classical Education

Classical Education
– Emphasizes classical literature, the study of Latin, and the Trivium:
– Grammar stage: (ages 6-10) Mastery of facts through memorization.
– Dialectic stage: (ages 10-14) Study of logic.
– Rhetoric stage: (ages 14-18) Proficiency in written and spoken language.

Pros:
– Well-rounded education that teaches children how to think.
– Students are able to converse in a highly intelligent way; easier to get into Harvard.

Cons:
– Mental fatigue from a long school day crammed with the maximum amount of academics.
– Many students have difficulty with Latin, which is a dead language. Spanish or other modern-day languages can teach the same root words and be useful in life.
– Children are pushed so hard that they don’t have time to develop their own pursuits and hobbies.

3. Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason
– Living books; no twaddle; short lessons; narrations.
– Nature study and notebooking.
– Fine arts, music, and poetry.

Pros:
– Whole literature books rather than the usual excerpts in textbooks help the child to experience a work rather than just taste it. The reading is more interesting and not dry.
– Reading aloud and having children do open-ended nature study outside doesn’t require much energy for the parent.

Cons:
– Some topics that require study don’t have living books. Comprehensive study of chemistry, for example, requires a textbook and not just a living biography.

4. Unit Studies

Unit Studies
– Integrate all subjects into one theme.
– Splash into one topic deeply until you master it.
– Hands-on activities and field trips.

Pros:
– Greater retention of material because of immersion into subject.
– Students of all ages learn together and do assignments on different levels.
– Hands-on activities cause children to master the topic rather than just read about it.
– Encourages creativity and open-ended projects based on the subject.
– All learning styles are addressed, especially kinesthetic and visual learners.

Cons:
– More labor-intensive to plan and set up hands-on activities.
– Some students don’t like hands-on activities and would rather read or write about the topic.
– Easy to leave out major topics of study if not systematically covering the topics.

5. Unschooling

Unschooling
– Unstructured and informal.
– Surround the child with a rich environment of learning opportunities.

Pros:
– Natural curiosity of the child is not squashed.
– Freedom to pursue interests as subjects of study.
– Not fatigued from formal study; their mind can process what they’re interested in.

Cons:
– Lack of systematic instruction, especially in skill areas, causes academic weakness.
– Natural laziness of human nature; student will not study what is necessary to learn unless instructed to do so.
– Leads to weakness in character because they only do what they feel like doing.

6.Computer

Computer-Based Education
– Using computer discs or online classes for education.

Pros:
– Self-grading.
– No work whatsoever for the parent.
– Interactive with cartoons and positive re-enforcement.

Cons:
– No interaction with the family; each student isolated from the others.
– No common base of learning; lack of discussion.
– Lack of real-life and hands-on projects.

Hopefully one or more of these styles of education fit your family. Let me know in the comments, which combination of styles is your favorite!

Bible Rocks and Minerals

Sunday, November 13th, 2022

Bible-Rocks-and-Minerals

I’ve recently noticed many places in Scripture that mention rocks and minerals. Years ago we purchased The Geology of Israel and Rocks and Minerals of the Bible from Northwest Treasures, which is a set of rocks and minerals that is specific to the Scriptures and to Israel, along with a binder with information about the rocks contained in the set. My kids gathered around to look at each rock and mineral to better understand, in a tangible way, the rocks referred to in Scripture.

Today I’m going to show you my two favorite rocks and minerals passages in Scripture: the precious stones in the Levitical priest’s garments and the precious stones referred to in the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven in the book of Revelation.

Precious Stones of Levitical Priest

I’ve always been fascinated by the precious stones in the high priest’s breastplate, which is described in Exodus 28:17-20. These stones were to be put into the beautiful woven garment that was for Aaron, the high priest. Each one of these rocks represents a different tribe of Israel, starting with Ruben (the oldest), all the way down to Benjamin (the youngest.)

We are going to look at some of these rocks and minerals today:

You can also do a craft for the breastplate of the high priest with shiny bronze paper and plastic gems to represent each color of the precious stones listed in Scripture. I give instructions on how to do this craft here:

breastplate-high-priest-craft

Precious Stones from Revelation

My other favorite Scripture passage for the study of rocks and minerals is the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven in Revelation 21:10-21.

The New Jerusalem is in the shape of a square, with three gates on each of the four sides. Each gate is an enormous pearl, and under each gate is a foundation stone. Each foundation stone is decorated with every kind of precious stone. These stones are mentioned: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst. Let me show you:

The length and width of the New Jerusalem is 1,500 miles across, so you have 500 miles for each foundation stone! Those are enormous foundation stones, one huge rock under each gate, holding up the walls of the New Jerusalem. The foundation stones are adorned with beautiful designs (maybe mosaics!) with only precious stones that glitter and sparkle in the light. God will be the Light of the city. You can see the precious stones adorning each foundation stone because the ground is transparent gold like glass! So the streets are clear, but they are shimmering because they are made from gold rather than sand, which is what window glass is made of. WOW.

We made a model of the New Jerusalem:

If you enjoy hands-on Bible activities, you will love Using Simple Costumes and Props to Teach the Bible, as well as the Bible section of the Unit Study Treasure Vault, which contains hands-on activities for every book of the Bible!

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$200 Christmas Giveaway!

Christmas-Giveaway

Once again, I have teamed up with some generous bloggers for the 9th annual Christmas Blessings Giveaway to bless FIVE families this year. In the past we have had two winners for this giveaway, but this year we wanted to give to even more families – we are giving away $200 gift cards to 5 families! Each winner will get a $200 gift card to wherever they choose – a restaurant, clothing store, grocery store, online retailer – any place that offers gift cards!

There are lots of entry options in the Rafflecopter form below – the more you enter, the better your chance of winning! I know it can seem tedious and time consuming to go through all the entries, but isn’t a chance at $200 worth it? I think it is! Plus, all of these amazing bloggers donated their own money towards the prizes, so this giveaway wouldn’t be possible without them. I hope you’ll take the time to check out each one. Who knows, maybe you will find some new blogs to follow.

The giveaway will run from Monday, November 14th through Wednesday, November 23rd (ends at 11:59pm EST). Winner will be notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends and will have 48 hours to respond to claim the prize or another winner will be drawn. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers. Please be sure to read the Rafflecopter terms and conditions upon entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Grow a Hydroponic Herb Garden

Tuesday, July 12th, 2022

hydroponic-herb-garden

The plants in this hydroponic garden grow directly in water… with no soil. Every two weeks, the little green light on the bottom turns red to remind you to put two capfulls of plant food into the water. Other than that, you just top off the distilled water each day, and you get lucious herbs. Simple.

herbs-in-hydroponic-garden

My husband got me this one from Costco, but you can get them various places and under different brands. What they have in common is that they have pods that you place into the water. These pods contain seeds which germinate when placed in water under a grow light. The grow light on this model (Aerogarden) is adjustable. You place it lower when the seeds are germinating, and as they grow taller, you raise the light higher.

How to Set Up Your Hydroponic Garden

Here is a tutorial on how to use your hydroponic herb garden:

As you can see, you fill the container with distilled water, so as not to crust over the system with harsh chemicals from tapwater. Then put the lid on, and place the herb pods into the circles.

herb-pods-for-hydroponic-garden

Place the little “greenhouse” over each pod until they sprout. Then remove the “greenhouse,” allowing the plant to grow taller.

tomato-pods-in-water

When the herbs are so tall that they touch the light, they need to be trimmed or transplanted to another container or outside.

tomatoes-hydroponic-garden

So far we have grown herbs (including basil, parsley, and mint) and some cherry tomatoes. It’s fun to add some greenery to your home, and to have herbs available to clipping and throw into your cooking!

Starting Vegetables from Seeds

Tuesday, May 10th, 2022

starting-vegetables-from-seeds

It’s been a while since I’ve started vegetables from seeds, so I thought I would try it again this year. We planted these back in March, so now that it’s May, we have transplanted the seedlings outside. We filmed the entire process, giving tips along the way. Make sure to check your weather forecast to make sure that it will not freeze overnight in your area before transporting the plants outside.

I show you in this video the whole process of starting vegetables from seeds:

  • We planted the seeds in seed trays, using seed starting mix instead of regular soil, because the seed starting mix keeps moist better. You can use old yogurt containers or other small containers instead of seed trays.
  • Make sure to have a grow light, which has the full spectrum of sunlight so that the seeds can get off to a good start. Otherwise you can place them in a sunny window.
  • Put cellophane over the rows of seeds, to keep the seeds moist and to cut down on the amount of times you need to water them.
  • Use a spray bottle to water, so that the seeds don’t get washed away.
  • Some seeds grow faster than others. Some take a few weeks to germinate. As you can see in the video, the green bean plant sprouted high above the others, reminding me of the Jack and the Beanstalk story!

Starting Vegetables from Seeds (video tutorial)

After a couple of months, you will want to transplant the seedlings outside. Some of the plants were getting too tall for the grow light, but the frost outdoors hadn’t passed yet, so I just transplanted the taller seedlings into larger containers and placed them in a sunny window.

transported-seedlings

I have a raised garden bed in partial shade, so I chose veggies that like the shade, such as lettuce and spinach, to plant in it. Then I set up a trellis next to my house, and I planted the climbing varieties of vegetables along the trellis. Green beans, for example, need a structure to climb up. You might want to stake those up with a wooden shishkabob skewer like I did in the house in the sunny window, using a twist tie to make sure they don’t fall over.

Growing your own vegetables is a great way to eat healthier and tastier food. I will be growing an even larger vegetable garden next year!