The Homeschool Handbook

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March / April 2012$6.50 USA/$15.50 INTL

7am - Morning routine Quiet time/study BREAKFAST Start Dinner8am - Home blessing (45 min) Check email-*8:45 - Devotions with girls9:00-1 - Morning lessons Desktime(file-15,admin15)

1:00 - LUNCH1:30 - Quiet time

MONDAY 2:00- Afternoon projects ZONE CLEANING 5:30 - Girls make supper (or I start it)

6:30 - Supper Bible study/study prep Preparations for errand day (lists?)

QUICK PICK-UP BEFORE-BED ROUTINE

9:00 - Bedtime

Prayfor:Ournation,Ourleaders,Ourgovernment

When you feel incredibly overwhelmed, it can help to go back to the basics. What is getting dropped that just can’t? Meals? Bedtimes? Basic housekeeping? Re-visit your routine—I don’t mean the sort of schedule that has you checking the to-do list every eight minutes, or dinging a bell to move from lunch to naptime. I mean covering at least the basics and having some regularity to your day.

Knowing what comes next, without having to make one more decision, can be a relief. Children find security in routine, and we moms can find emotional freedom in having a basic structure for the day or week. Don’t know where to begin? Mealtimes and bedtimes make a great framework for a routine. For example: “I’ll make a great effort to have breakfast by 7:30 and then lunch ready at 1:00 and supper at 6:30, and everyone has to be in their rooms by 9:00 p.m., whether they are in bed or quietly reading or something else safe (depending on ages).” Then plug everything else in around those times.

What has to get done in a typical week in your house? What recurring activities can you plug into a repeating weekly routine? My goal is to run on autopilot as much as possible, so I need a routine that helps me not have to think too hard. My list of weekly essentials includes:

Learning time Meals (menu plans!)

Basic housekeeping Laundry

Baking Errands

Co-op Outside activities

Filing De-cluttering

Zone cleaning Bible study

Date night

I made columns on a paper and labeled them Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on, through the week and then plugged in each of these items (above) on a day of the week. For example, learning time (homeschooling) was a daily activity, as were meals, but I could schedule most of the other items on specific days. The most

fundamental household tasks were already part of our household management system (chore chart), <LINK TO http://www.everydayhomemaking.com/products/everyday_chore_system.html > so we already had dishes, daily bathroom tidying, and other chores covered.

Once I had decided on my main tasks for each day, I could plug those into daily routines on 4x6 cards, such as:

how Does A Busy homeschool Mom Spell Relief? R-O-U-T-I-n-e

By Vicki Bentley, HSLDA Toddlers to Tweens consultant

*Notice the finite time block allocated for email! Ladies, we must be good stewards of our time and not let our computer use cause us to neglect other responsibilities.

These 4x6” routine cards went into a 4x6” flip-style photo album strategically placed on my desk for maximum visibility (your best spot might be the kitchen window, the changing table, or other often-visited location). I developed a habit of checking my visible routine card during the day.

Vicki Bentley is the mother of eight daughters, foster mom of over fifty, and grandma to fifteen wonderful grandbabies (and another on the way!). She is the author of many homeschool and homemaking helps (see www.everydayhomemaking.com), support group leader, and coordinator

of HSLDA’s Early Years and Group Services programs. This article is adapted from the June 2010 Early Years newsletter at www.hslda.org/earlyyears.

March/April 2012 | Homeschool Handbook 3www.TheHomeschoolHandbook.com

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[email protected] The Homeschool Handbook is published bi-monthly by Brilliant Publishing LLC, 9034 Joyce Lane, Hummelstown, PA 17036 Telephone: (717) 571-9233, Fax: (717) 566-5431. Postage paid at Michigan City, IN and additional offices. POSTMASTER please send address changes to The Homeschool Handbook, 9034 Joyce Lane, Hummelstown, PA 17036. Volume 3 Number 02. The Homeschool Handbook subscription rates: one-year $19.95 USD, Canadian $59.95 USD, Foreign $89.95 USD. All subscriptions are non-refundable. Copyright © 2012 Brilliant Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. the publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising or editorial material. Advertisers, and/or their agents, assume the responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on the advertisement. Editorial contributors assume responsibility for their published works and assume responsibility for any claims against the publisher based on published work. No part of this publication can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher. All items submitted to The Homeschool Handbook become the sole property of Brilliant Publishing LLC. Editorial content does not reflect the views of the publisher. The imprints, logos, trademarks or trade names (collectively the “Marks”) displayed on the products featured in The Homeschool Handbook are for illustrative purposes only and are not available for sale. The Marks do not represent the implied or actual endorsement by the owners of the Marks of the product on which they appear. All of the Marks are the property of the respective owners and are not the property of either the advertisers using the Marks or The Homeschool Handbook.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMERNo warranty whatsoever is made by the publisher and there is absolutely no assurance that any statement contained or cited in any article touching on medical matters is true, correct, precise, or up-to-date. Even if a statement made about medicine is accurate, it may not apply to you or your symptoms. The medical information provided is, at best, of a general nature and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical professional (for instance, a qualified doctor/physician, nurse, pharmacist/chemist, and so on). None of the individual contributors, LLC members, subcontractors, advertisers, or anyone else connected to Brilliant Publishing LLC and The Homeschool Handbook can take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented in this magazine. Nothing included, as a part of this publication should not be construed as an attempt to offer or render a medical opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of medicine.

BecAUSe we are constantly striving to be better, we have created some new ways in which you can give us your feedback. The feedback we need to continue our efforts to make The Homeschool Handbook simply the BEST homeschooling magazine.

As you read thru this issue please note that we have cited articles and columns where we want YOUR thoughts and comments. Your input matters to us because it is what keeps us on our toes and helps us provide valuable information that you have gained ‘in the trenches’ of homeschooling to other readers.

Your hard won input may be just the words that inspire another person to begin or keep homeschooling their children, or solve a problem they are struggling with. As we strive to encourage and inspire home educators we want to also feature advice from real home educators like you. So tap your keyboards whether it is to tweet a brief thought or write an entire article for publication, your voice matters and we want to hear it!

Now, go get a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy this packed issue. There are so many wonderful features! Don’t take my word for it…read it yourself and let us know what you think. Join in and tell us your story. There are thousands of other home educators who can’t wait to read it! And, we will continue striving to bring home educator’s stories, brands, information, inspiration and encouragement to your homeschool journey.

As always I “Thank you” for your time!

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

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Sonlight Curriculum: Complete lesson plans & all your materials—Pre-K to 12.No need to supplement!“Best of the best” books woven into an award-winningliterature-based curriculum.

on raising kids who love God, know what they believe, and desire to advance God’s Kingdom worldwide.

Best of all? You’ll love to teach and your kids will love to learn.(We guarantee it with a full-year extended money-back guarantee.)

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“I love how Sonlight incorpo-rates missions into their cur-riculum and really encouragesfamilies to enjoy and explorethis world that God created.”–Cori B, Aug. 2010what they –Cori B, Aug. 20102010

sonlight.com/hhcat

Do you want your children to be well educated? Do you want them to develop good character and grow up to serve Jesus? If you’re like most homeschoolers, you probably do.

�at’s why my family uses curric-ulum that helps us give our children a Christ-centered, academically-ro-bust education. It helps us naturally develop character in them. But our curriculum also has a unique em-phasis that sometimes gets lost in homeschooling: a global outlook.

Sonlight Curriculum’s Core pro-grams (which combine History, Ge-ography, Bible, Reading and Litera-ture) allocates considerable time to people outside the U.S. But why?

1. God loves the worldGod’s plans are for all peoples. My wife and I never want to forget what is foremost on God’s heart. �us, we believe we should not fo-cus solely on the West and western history.

In a standard American history/social studies curriculum, students devote 10 of 12 years—over 80% of their homeschool time—to study of the history and culture of a nation that has existed for less than 10% of recorded history and encompasses fewer than 5% of all the people in the world!

We recognize that Western cul-ture—and American society in par-ticular within the last 150 years—has enriched the world in many ways. And we believe it’s valuable to high-light those unique contributions.

But because we believe that God is no respecter of persons on the ba-sis of their racial or cultural back-grounds, we think a well-rounded curriculum should emphasize the

job market of tomorrow to being able to function well in diverse cit-ies of the future.

Explore the globe from home In all, Sonlight devotes four solid years to U.S. history and culture. But interspersed between those four years, Sonlight devotes eight years to the rest of the world, in-cluding not only Western history and culture, but also the cultures and histories of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and indigenous peo-ples around the globe.

�rough historical �ction, grip-ping history and thrilling mission-ary biographies, my children will travel the world and love learning.

I should caution that Sonlight isn’t for everyone. But we really like it. See where you fall when you pe-ruse your own free Sonlight catalog. You’ll learn about the educational philosophy, see the programs, and discover 27 reasons not to use the curriculum. Request your copy today at sonlight.com/hhcat.

And whether or not you use Son-light, I do hope your children get to explore the whole world in their homeschool!

Tim Heil works in Customer Relations and Product Development at Sonlight Cur-riculum. He and his wife live in Broom�eld, CO where they homeschool their three chil-dren and lead worship at their local church.

unique contributions, strengths, weaknesses, and needs—both physical and spiritual—of the oth-er major peoples and cultures on Earth.

God desires to bless all nations and peoples of the world (Rev. 5:9). So we want to raise our chil-dren who share that heart for the world. What a privilege to prepare our children to think about, pray for and serve peoples and cultures around the world!

2. We should all stand in another’s shoesMost children can’t imagine that anyone lives di�erently than they do. �ey have no idea there is a big world around them �lled with peo-ple who experience life completely di�erently than they do.

But in our increasingly connected world, we want our children to un-derstand that God does not value one people group over another. We don’t have to say that every culture’s beliefs and practices are equally right and true. But we do want our chil-dren to understand the contribu-tions of di�erent cultures and learn to look at situations from others’ perspectives.

3. Our children will need to understand our complex world It’s no secret that our world is much more interconnected than it was 100 years ago. International econo-mies are becoming increasingly in-terdependent and the internet has opened up instant communication to far-�ung places. So there are many practical “secular” reasons why children should learn about the world beyond America’s bor-ders: from being prepared for the

�e importance of a global outlook�ree reasons why your children need to learn about the world.

www.TheHomeschoolHandbook.com July/August 2011 | Homeschool Handbook 29www.TheHomeschoolHandbook.com

THH_0711.indd 29 7/14/11 11:26:56 PM

Your resource, support & inspiration for a successful at home education & lifestyle.What’s inside lifestyle3 How Does A Busy Mom Spell

Relief? R-O-U-T-I-N-E

8 Mom and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Homeschooling Day

10 Genetic Permutations

solutions12 Why Our Children Should

Learn to Concentrate

14 What Is Classical Education?

17 Getting Where You Want to Go

18 Table Manners, Part 1

curriculum20 Art Tip: Stretch Your Drawing Muscles

21 Why Homeschool?

22 Dear Andrew: Q & A with Andrew Pudewa

24 The Middle School “Tool Belt”

26 Is Teaching Multiple Children at the Same Time a Good Idea?

inspiration28 Education, Work, Life Balance –

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

30 Talking with Kids About Alzheimer’s Disease

6 Homeschool Handbook | March/April 2012 www.TheHomeschoolHandbook.com

contents|2012volume 03, issue 02

For Breaking News, Updates and Tips Please: Like The Homeschool Handbook Magazine on Facebook at:www.facebook.com/TheHomeschoolHandbookFollow The Homeschool Handbook Magazine on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/@TheHomeschool

Your resource, support & inspiration for a successful at home education & lifestyle.What’s inside

special needs32 Homeschooling Your Special Needs Child

organization36 Top 12 Organizing Tips

health & hearth34 Homemade Crackers for Toddlers:

Alternative to Goldfish Crackers!

35 Teaching Kids the ABC’s of Essential Vitamins & Vitamin C Experiment

extra activities38 Spring Has Sprung

40 Yum…Yum…Yummy…Spring Flower Pot Dessert

columns41 Product Spotlights

resources42 Index/Resources List

On The Cover:The piece is entitled “Garden Gatherings”Oil on Canvas: 24x20Artist: Steve Hendersonwww.stevehendersonfineart.com

E-mail your comments to [email protected]


lifestyle

IT’S one of “those” days. You know the one. It’s only 10AM and everyone has been in tears at least once. The science experiment blew up, math took four times as long as it should have, and when you asked your child to write a brief summary of what you just read, he looked at you like you asked him to pluck out his eyebrows one hair at a time. And you, of course, are out of chocolate…Yeah, that day.

Any Mom who has home schooled for more than a week knows that day. The day when you look longingly at the school bus as it passes your house and think, “I could put them all on that happy yellow bus and go get a latte, all by myself.”

On one of those days several years ago, I met my hard-working husband at the door as he got home and said, “That’s

By: Dawn Hudson

Mom and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad homeschooling Day


it. I’m out. I started looking at schools today and maybe I can find one that will work...” Wisely, my dear husband gave me a hug, sighed and replied, “Okay, I’ll take the homeschooling over. What are you going to do to support us?”

Wait. What did he just say? My husband then went on to remind me, “We have goals

for our kids and we decided that homeschooling was the best way to meet those goals. If you really can’t handle it, then I guess I’ll have to.” His reaction hit me like a ton of bricks. We had spent time and energy planning goals for our family and our children. We felt strongly that homeschooling was our best option. Since there was no way I could compete with his software industry salary, nor did I want to, I had to figure out how to make those horrible days have minimal and short-term impact.

1. Have Written Goals and Display ThemThe first thing I figured out was the need to write down our

goals and the reasons that we home school and prominently display them in our home. For years our goals were on the side of the fridge where I would see them daily. One of my friends placed her family’s goals on the inside of the pantry door. I needed to remember that choosing to home school was not a spur of the moment decision and that there was a purpose and reason to all of this. When I focus on why we home school, I am able to see the big picture, stay calm, and think through the emotions of the day.

2. “Can I Fry You an Egg?”When I was growing up, my dad would offer to fry us

an egg when life seemed too hard or our emotions were getting ahead of us. He was a short order cook in his teens and apparently never got past that “feed people” gene. My mother-in-law offers to make a cup of tea when those around her are stressed.

Either way, egg or tea, the intent is the same. Sometimes, we are cranky because of a physical need and we just need to take a break. When I find myself getting stressed or my kids are starting to fall apart, one of the first things the kids and I do is to take a break; have a snack, take a walk, or sometimes if it’s absolutely necessary, take a nap. When my oldest son is struggling with a concept he’ll ask if he can take a jog to clear his head. My daughter usually needs a snack and her twin brother finds relief in kicking a ball around the yard. These can be day savers, costing only a few minutes with long-term benefits.

3. Approach the Problem Another WayThere are times when I am teaching a new concept and

no matter what I say, the kids just are not getting it. It seems I am speaking a different language! When that happens, I usually run to that old favorite: hands-on activities. I look around my house quickly to see if there is something I can use to make the idea more tangible. I recently explained a geometry concept to my high school son using preschool toys. He was horrified when I pulled out the preschool box, but he got the concept! If I absolutely cannot figure out how to explain an idea, I send them for a snack and jump on the Internet. A quick search can almost always help me find another way to explain the lesson.

4. Know What Absolutely Must Get Done that DayWhen everything fails, when you and the children have

had a snack, taken a walk, marched to the Nutcracker Suite, and nothing seems to be working, know what your absolutes are for that day. I make a mental note of our absolutely-must-get-done items. When one of “those” days hits, and I know that it will, I minimize our workload and try to hit the “musts.” We do math and language arts almost year round so I know that we are generally fine on those subjects. I’ll have the kids watch a math video or play a math game instead of hammering out the entire lesson. Instead of having my children write a full summary of our history, I’ll just have them tell me the most important point. To compensate, I’ll read an extra chapter of our read-aloud to make time for the harder things we missed that need to be done the next day. We address the absolutes and call it a day. I do try and keep a note of how often we do this so that we don’t get behind. This option should only be used in extreme cases when nothing else works!

Every homeschooler has rough days. They are normal; not fun, but normal. Homeschooling can take a lot of personal energy and patience but the rewards are great and well worth the occasional bad day. We need to be realistic and proactive in knowing how to handle these days. With a plan of action in place, we can rescue our home school from the terrible, horrible, no good day.

First the student, and now the teacher, Dawn Hudson is a second generation homeschooler. She enjoys homeschooling her children in their home state of Colorado. Dawn also serves as a consultant for My Father’s World. www.mfwbooks.com.

Send your “very bad day” homeschooling story to [email protected] or www.twitter.com/@TheHomeschool or

www.facebook.com/TheHomeschoolHandbook


lifestyle

In the process of raising four children, I have noticed two things: Whether because of genetics or environment or both, our kids are just like us.

AndDespite genetics or environment or both, our kids are

completely different from us.Those of you with teenagers have no doubt experienced

Precept #2 in a series of animated discussions over music, clothing, cinematic preferences, and electronic media time, not to mention the differences in opinion with the budding driver over what the 25 mph speed limit sign really means.

We did the same thing to our own parents: I recall my father tearing out what little hair he had left trying to understand why I spent three hours on the phone, chatting with my best friend whom I had seen all day.

These run-ins with one another, while frustrating and causing us to question whether we’re just not strict enough because surely no other family on the planet has this problem, are actually good signs of our children’s

emerging personalities, and if we relax already and take a breath before blowing up, we might find that we not only recognize, but sort of kind of like, some of the music of the 21st century.

And then there’s the identifying, admitting to, and accepting how much our children are like us part. While it’s easy to ascribe their intelligence and good looks to our genetic contribution, it’s not so easy to stand up and claim the less desirable attributes.

(As an aside, one of the most gracious backhanded compliments we have ever received was from the man who exclaimed, awestruck, at how beautiful our children are. “It’s hard to believe that they’re yours,” he repeated, too many times.)

Years ago, when we attended a little country church and commandeered an entire pew with our flock, we experienced the same recurring scenario with such monotonous repetition that it was like living through the Bill Murray Groundhog movie:

Genetic Permutations

By: Carolyn Henderson

Somewhere between direct clones and complete strangers, we find our children


Carolyn Henderson is an 18-year veteran of homeschooling and the manager of Steve Henderson Fine Art, the online and studio gallery she operates with her husband, artist Steve Henderson (www.stevehendersonfineart.com). More of her writing may be found at her Middle

Aged Plague site, www.middleagedplague.areavoices.com.

Timeless, Classic, AffordableFine Art

Steve Henderson Fine ArtSigned, Limited Edition, High Quality

Archival Prints beginning at $55

(Certificate of Authenticity included with each print)

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509.382.9775

[email protected]

Genetic Permutations

“I’m going to tell a story,” the pastor would announce. “I want all of the kids under 12 to come up front and sit in a circle around me.”

And all of the children in the sanctuary, with the notable exception of four, scampered to the front, surrounded the pastor, and listened with their eager little ears.

Ours remained, frozen in their seats, the dogged expression on their faces announcing to the world, “You’re not getting me up there.”

No amount of nudging, prodding, hissing, or serious at-the-lunch-table discussions moved any of them, literally or figuratively, from their position.

“If you were us, would you go?” one daughter finally asked.

She had a point. Yes, it’s true that when we were younger we were forced to comply in similar situations, but we learned early on as parents that if the only reason we were pushing our kids to do something was because we had to do it at their age, well, that’s a bit uncreative.

It’s not as if, in order to succeed in life, they needed to be able to sit in a circle and look rapturous while a condescending adult read aloud a Dr. Seuss story. After all, we made it, and our daughter was right: given a choice, we avoid these situations. Like. The. Black. Plague.

With a double set of seriously non-conformist chromosomes coursing through our children’s DNA, was it any wonder that they stood, or rather, sat, their ground, resisting the peer pressure of not only their peers, but of the

adults around them, including, for too long, their parents?As our children grow, we see the advantages, and

disadvantages, of their unique make up, and rather than trying to coerce them into “fitting in,” “being more like others,” and “behaving like everyone else,” we embrace that as homeschoolers we chose a path that is unique in many ways, not just in our choice of math curricula or whether we teach medieval history in the 5th grade instead of the foundations of the U.S., but in how we, and our children, approach life’s daily societal expectations.

Your children are your children, unique to you, and you as their parent understand them in a way that nobody else does. Sometimes they’ll be just like the other kids, and sometimes they won’t, but the eventual goal is that they will be comfortable being themselves.

Learning this is more important than memorizing the periodic table of elements, and it takes a lot more time, energy, and work. I’m still hacking away at it, and once I fully master the subject, I’ll let you know.

Garden Gatherings


solutions

WhAT do you suppose our kids must learn in the age of Facebook, texting and instant information?

I think it is how to focus.They need to learn other things as well, of course.

But consider some ideas I recently read about: The hang-up in education used to be access to information. For example, if you lived in England in the year 1500, you’d be lucky to know how to read, let alone own a single book or live near a library.

But today your children probably have more information at their fingertips than they could ever use. They have books and the Internet at their disposal. A quick Google search can yield information about nearly anything. But many children today are unable to effectively use this information because they are not learning how to concentrate. I know high school students who think they can do good scholarly work while

texting constantly with friends and checking Facebook every two minutes. I don’t believe that serves them well. Rather, I suggest we must help our kids learn how to purposely avoid constant interruptions, to stand against the barrage of information… and actually focus on the task at hand.

I read a fascinating article about this in The Wall Street Journal titled “Learning How to Focus on Focus.” The subtitle says it all: “In an age of information overload, simply paying attention is the hardest thing.” I wish I could let you read it all, but the full article, apparently, is only available to subscribers.

The author, Jonah Lehrer, refers to “executive function,” which he defines as “a collection of cognitive skills that allow us to exert control over our thoughts and impulses.” He cites studies that suggest that people who learned to regulate their impulses as children (e.g., sitting and focusing

By: Sarita Holzmann

Why our Children Should Learn to Concentrate


Sarita Holzmann is the co-founder and president of Sonlight Curriculum (www.sonlight.com). She cherishes a legacy of family-centered, literature-rich home education and seeks to provide families with the rich resources they need to raise life-long learners.

on homework instead of running over to watch TV), were far less likely to reach extremes such as becoming criminals or being addicted to drugs later in life. In fact, Lehrer says, “In many instances, the ability to utilize executive control was more predictive of adult outcomes than either IQ scores or socioeconomic status.”

That’s good news to me. Why? Because regardless of children’s natural IQ or socioeconomic position, we can definitely help them increase their ability to concentrate. Parents can help children do this through activities that require them to focus. (And by turning off the TV, cell phone and computer while they concentrate.)

I love this quote from the article:“Given the age in which we live, it makes no sense

to obsess over the memorization of facts that can be looked up on a smartphone. It’s not enough to drill kids in arithmetic and hope that they develop delayed gratification by accident. We need to teach the skills of executive function directly and creatively.”

The article suggests that activities like art, physical exercise, tae-kwon-do and difficult board games can

all help children increase their ability to focus. I’ve seen 7-year-olds fall in love with chess and play games that last for hours. And let me tell you, when children become that engrossed in thinking, good things happen in their brains.

I’d also like to encourage you to limit the number of distractions your children regularly encounter. It is perfectly reasonable to ask your children to sit down and work without access to electronic distractions. That skill alone will help your children their entire lives.

So what do you think? Do parents today have to work harder to help their children learn delayed gratification and focus? What has helped your own children learn to block out distractions and concentrate?

My son can’t focus unless he is

moving. So to keep him in his chair,

he needs something that can still

keep his body moving in some way.

Usually, that means he is building

with LEGO’s while I am reading his

history lesson to him. I don’t try to

make him be still. I accept that he

was created with a need to move,

and I work with that. As long as his

hands are moving, his brain is on

full-speed ahead. -Nicole N.

I have my 5 year old run around

the room and do jumping jacks

when he gets the wiggles.

-Alicia R.

We take frequent activity breaks - family walk, jumping on the trampoline, riding bikes, going sledding. Depends on the season c:We also try to minimize distractions - doing the bulk of the more challenging subjects while the babies are napping, or before my husband goes to work (that way he can entertain the babies) -Sunnie B.

Recognize when they are stressing and take a break so they can re-focus on the task at hand or even a new task if need be. -Heather J.

My son has major focus issues.

He has to work at the table

with curtains closed. We can’t do

schoolwork outside, at the park, in

the car, etc. There are just too many

distractions. He takes breaks about

every 15-20 minutes. He has to do

something physical for about 10

minutes- ride his bike, climb a tree,

work in the garden, etc.

-Kim S.

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solutions

I ReAD a magazine article recently in which the reporter went to two Christian colleges, one a more standard Christian college, and one with an explicitly classical emphasis. When asked what their objectives were, the first college answered, “To save America.” The second answered, “To save Western civilization.”

Why is this significant? It is significant because the second school realized that our problem is not of recent origin and that it doesn’t just have to do with this country. The decline in our country and our culture is much more fundamental than what most people think. And this decline has a lot to do with changes in education over the last century.

Education as it used to beIf we were to visit a good school about a hundred years ago, we

would find it focused exclusively on two things: doing mathematics and reading classic literature in the original languages, with an emphasis on the latter. This was what we now call the old “classical education.” It taught students how to think and what to do. It was an education in wisdom and virtue.

Students learned Latin and Greek—and through this they learned a set of vocabulary that undergirds all academic language, and they learned the inherent structure of the grammar common to all languages, including their own. They also learned the mental skills required to make the fine grammatical distinctions characteristic of these two inflected languages.

Having mastered these languages, they then read, analyzed, and discussed the actions of great men. As always, the chief question asked about the actions of every great man (or woman)—the questions every child asks when first reading about a character—was ‘were they good or bad? Why did they act as they did? Who did it affect? What were the circumstances under which it was done? What should he (or she) have done differently? Would you have done it differently?’

This was an education in wisdom and virtue. We see it at the very beginning of the history of education, in the book, which was the first textbook of education: Homer’s Iliad.

Phoenix, the teacher of Achilles in the Iliad (modeled after the legendary Chiron, the wise centaur who, it was said, taught many of the Greek heroes) reminds Achilles, at a moment of crisis in his life, of what the hero’s father had commanded the old teacher to teach him. He was charged, says Phoenix, to teach Achilles “to be a speaker of words and a doer of deeds.” This ideal—the man who would think

WHAT IS CLASSICAL EDUCATION?

By: Martin Cothran

www.TheHomeschoolHandbook.com14 Homeschool Handbook | March/April 2012

truly and act rightly—was the goal of Greek education.This was the education of the Romans and the Greeks

(and everyone who lived in the Hellenic world, including the Jews). It was the education of the Christian Middle Ages, of the American founding fathers, and of their Puritan predecessors.

It was the prevailing education into the early 20th century before it was thrown out over a period of about 40 years.

Today’s educationToday, a new regime controls our schools. Its purpose

is much different from the purpose of classical education. Today’s schools are about two things: progressivism and pragmatism. Progressivism is a political program that can be seen in the emphasis on political correctness and multiculturalism. Pragmatism is a vocational program that can be seen in the emphasis on job training and employment skills.

Today’s education is almost a direct inversion of the old classical emphasis on how to think and what to do; the political and vocational emphases of today’s education teach students what to think and how to do. It is almost literally the exact opposite of the old classical education. Its political goal is to use schools to change culture, and its practical goal is to change students to fit the culture.

The goal of classical education was very different. It was not interested in changing culture or fitting children to a culture. Its goal was to pass on a culture—and one culture in particular: the culture of the Christian West.

How classical education worksIn classical education, students read the classics. They

focus their attention on the best that has been thought and said. In Western civilization, our focus should be on what I call the “three cultures”: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem—the Greeks, the Romans, and the Hebrews. Buy why study these cultures?

We should study the Greeks because the Greeks were philosophical and literary man in miniature. They were the original philosophers and poets. Every great idea—and every lousy one—came from some Greek somewhere. All you’ve got to do is trace it back.

Why study the Romans? We study the Romans because the Romans were practical, political man in miniature. They were the road builders and the republicans of ancient times. These are the people who ran the world for a thousand years. They built the roads and ran the most enduring government history has ever seen. In fact, the founding fathers used the old Roman republic as their model in constructing the American government.

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WHAT IS CLASSICAL EDUCATION?


solutions

Martin Cothran, a writer and teacher who lives in Danville, Kentucky with his wife and four children, is the director of the Memoria Press Online Classical Academy. For the past 15 years, Martin has been an influential voice on public policy issues at the Kentucky State Capitol. He has served on several state commissions dealing

with state education policy and has been heard on ABC Radio News, American Family Radio, and Family News in Focus. Visit www.memoriapress.com.

Why study the Hebrews? We study the Hebrews because they are spiritual man in miniature. From them we learn how God deals with individuals and with nations.

In studying these three cultures, classical education does not ignore American history and culture. In fact, in order to fully understand American civilization, a knowledge of these three cultures is crucial since, as political philosopher Russell Kirk has pointed out, all three of them were essential in the forming of our thought, our political institutions, and our moral principles.

We study these three cultures and the great works they produced because they constitute our heritage as Western people. Lynne Cheney once said that if you graduate from school not knowing what Western civilization is, then you are not really educated. She was right.

Nor does classical education ignore the skills needed to get a job. In addition to studying the great books and the stories of great men, classical education also studies the liberal arts. The liberal arts included grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. These are the generalizable intellectual skills that you use no matter what subject you are studying or what you do.

The trivium consisted of the first three of these. The first was grammar, which was the study of the structure

of language, and this was studied by learning a language (preferably an inflected language—one which required a knowledge of the noun cases) other than your own, usually Latin and Greek, sometimes Hebrew. Logic was the study of the structure and rules of rational thought, and this was done by studying the old Aristotelian system of traditional logic. Rhetoric was the study of the rules of persuasion, and this was done by focusing on writers such as Aristotle, the great theoretician of rhetoric, Quintilian, the great teacher of rhetoric, and Cicero, the great practitioner of rhetoric. You would also study St. Augustine, who used the skills he learned from these great thinkers to articulate Christian truths.

The quadrivium (the last four of the seven liberal arts) consisted of arithmetic, the study of discrete number, geometry, the study of continuous number, music, the application of discrete number, and astronomy, the application of continuous number.

The trivium consisted of the arts of language, and the quadrivium, the arts of mathematics. The first was qualitative, and the second quantitative. Together they were considered to equip a thinker to approach any other subject.

The most important employment skills—and the skills that many employers say are the hardest to find today—are basic thinking skills. This was what a liberal arts education taught.

Classical education, then, is the study of the classics and the liberal arts: the best that has been thought and said, and the intellectual skills that equip a student to think critically. It is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue through the study of the great books and basic critical thinking skills in order to pass on and preserve Western civilization.

Classical education is making a comeback. More and more parents have realized that their children are being shortchanged in our schools. And more of them are realizing that it was not always this way.

Logic was the study of the

structure and rules of rational

thought, and this was done

by studying the old Aristotelian

system of traditional logic.


solutions

AS I write this article, we are just a few weeks away from St. Patrick’s Day. Being that my last name is Sullivan, and I married a man whose paternal grandmother came to this country through Ellis Island, this is the time of year our house and home school are discussing all things Irish.

Every year, around this time, I am reminded of an Irish proverb that I love. To paraphrase, a traveler is lost in Ireland. He is trying to find a particular tourist spot. The local man he asks starts several different times to give him different directions to the desired location from where they are, only to cut himself off after a few words each time…He finally stops, looks at the lost tourist and says “You know, you can’t get there from here”.

I often think of this proverb when I am thinking about goals. Whether I am writing goals for my speech language pathology clients or deciding my school year goals for my own children in our home school, I have to ask myself: Is what I am doing getting me where I want to go?

It is important to look at what we want our end result to be. Let’s take handwriting/fine motor issues for example. If you are home schooling a child with special needs, then chances are they have fine motor issues as well. Special needs or typical, if your child has issues with handwriting then handouts are not going to get you where you need to go with regard to the end goals of any subject and working on handwriting for handwriting‘s sake will often only lead to frustration and discouragement.

My special needs twins worked on handwriting for three years in public school. It was the first subject I dropped when I started home schooling them. When will they write a handwritten letter? When was the last time I wrote a handwritten letter? I continued working with them on writing their first and last names for signature and switched out handwriting for typing skills--because my end goal for them--where I wanted to go--was communication/written

expression. With keyboard recognition and typing skills, they are able to write and even spell out words and sentences on their Augmentative communication devices. Handwriting did not get me there. I couldn’t get where I wanted to go from there. Now I can.

Does History have to include date and fact memorization to be successful? If your end goal is to pass a standardized test or win a Geography Bee then yes, but if your desired end result--where you want to go--is equipping your child with knowledge of history in general, world affairs, and how to think critically, then no.

Do you HAVE to use the readers that come in a particular curriculum in order for your child’s reading for that school year to be successful? No. If your desired end result- where you want to go--is a child reading at or above grade level, then this can be accomplished with trips to the local library. Most libraries have available a list of books for each grade level that they have on location at their particular branch. If your child is bored by the standard readers, then why not read through this list, picking out those that peak your child’s interests?

I’m not proposing that any subject or skill that is difficult or challenging be removed. On the contrary, I am proposing that we need to, for all of our kids, whether they are typical or face learning challenges; hold them to a high standard. Once we decide on that goal and standard then we need to reassess often to make sure the road we are on can actually get us there.

Katie Sullivan, M.S., SLP-CCC is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and a homeschool mom to 3 typical girls and twin boys with special needs. She pens two blogs www.brightonparkblog.blogspot.com and www.katieslanguagecafe.blogspot.com. You can contact her at [email protected].

“getting where you want to go” By: Katie Sullivan


solutions

OK, heRe We GO. I receive more questions about table manners than any other etiquette skill. I also receive more complaints from parents regarding their children’s table manners than any other complaint, which honestly, I find quite humorous. Didn’t someone, somewhere along the way teach us that our children do what they see, not what they hear? So maybe we all need a little “refresher” course in table manners and I’m just the girl to help. This article is Part 1 of a 3 Part series in dining etiquette.

Let’s begin with table linens. Table linens are tablecloths, napkins and sometimes placemats. The most important thing for us to remember and teach our children about table linens is…we always protect the table linen. It seems a little ironic that the very item meant to keep our mouths and hands clean, is the same item we are suppose to try

not to get too dirty. However, this is true. Linen napkins (including other fabrics) are not meant for scrubbing our faces, blowing our noses or giving ourselves a quick bath. They are only to be used to DAB, say it with me, DAB. Yes, very good. “Dabbing” is when we take our napkin

from our lap and gently “dab” the corners of our mouths to dry or remove small amounts of food or beverage. As we sit down to dine, our napkin is folded in half, placed across our lap, where it remains until we exit the table. We never “tuck” our napkin in anywhere. If during our meal, we need to excuse ourselves for a moment; we simply stand and place our folded napkin in our seat, not on the table. Once we have placed a napkin in our lap, the napkin is considered

“used” or “dirty”, and we never place a dirty item on the table while we are dining. It is not acceptable to place or blow anything unexpected into our napkin. Think of it this

TableManners:

By: Monica Irvine


way; we never want to leave any unexpected surprises in our napkins for the host or waitress to find later. This would not be polite. When it’s time to leave, we may place our used napkin on the table if there is not a tablecloth present; however, if there is a tablecloth, we should place our napkin on top of our plates.

Tablecloths and placemats are also to be protected and respected. This means we never place used utensils or dirty napkins directly onto the linen. We always want to be extremely careful around table linens, as many are cherished family heirlooms. Sometimes of course, accidents do occur. When this happens, quickly act. Sincerely apologize, try to help clean up the spill and then offer to have the linen professionally cleaned. It’s not polite to “continue on” speaking of a misfortune. Once you have apologized and offered to clean the item, allow the dinner conversation to move on to more “cheerful subjects”. Of course, we would never use a tablecloth as a napkin. OK, that covers table linens. I hope that helps.

Let’s move on. One of the most common complaints about children in restaurants is their inability to sit still. First of all, we’re not talking about babies or toddlers. Of course “little ones” can’t be still, however by the age of five, children should be able to sit at a dinner table relatively still. This does not mean they’re a statue. It simply means they are not “ducking” under the table, getting up and down out of their chair, crawling under the table, running around the table, rocking in their chair or any other distracting movement. We cannot expect our child to be one way out in public and allowed to be another way at home. These are skills that must be practiced at home, so they become a habit regardless of where they are. If you know that your child struggles with being “fidgety” at the dinner table, bring along a coloring book or a small quiet toy to keep their attention while waiting to be served in a restaurant.

I find that one reason children “end up” disrupting mealtime is: they are simply striving to get attention. We must remember there are two purposes for why we sit down to eat: #1; to fill our bellies, #2; to reconnect with those we love and care about. If this is true, then it is not polite for the adults to monopolize the conversation. There should be an equal amount of “talking time” for everyone present. Ask the children about their week, their day at school; however, instead of saying, “So honey, how was school today?” which

usually doesn’t produce a lot of conversation; ask something like, “So honey, what was the best thing about your day?” If children feel their thoughts are important and their opinions are respected, they will reciprocate these feelings towards you. Children can also be taught that it is polite to ask the adults at the table about their day as well. We will discuss conversation etiquette more in the future. For now, realize that conversation plays an important role in helping children and adults to have a positive dining experience. The next article will cover the finer points and details of proper etiquette at the table. For now, determine what your family’s goal to dining together is. I hope mealtime for your family is a time of soft words, listening ears, words of encouragement and a lot of laughter. Table Monica Irvine, a certified Etiquette Instructor,

owns and operates The Etiquette Factory. A master motivator and dedicated instructor, she is the author of several books on etiquette and also operates Etiquette Summer Camps. As a home school mom herself, Monica is passionate about giving parents the tools they need to successfully

teach proper etiquette in the home. For more information please visit www.theetiquettefactory.com.


curriculum

James H. Pence (www.jamespence.com) is a former homeschooling dad, and the author or co-author of nine books. He is also a performance chalk artist and blogs twice weekly for See the Light (www.seethelightshine.com), producers of the DVD-based “Art Class” series.

Art Tip: Stretc

h Your “Drawing Muscles”By: James H. Pence

AThleTeS stretch their muscles before they work out. Do you know how to stretch your drawing muscles? I’m not talking about flexing your fingers and wrists so your hands don’t get sore when you draw. I’m talking about developing your hand-eye coordination so that you can draw what you see.

When most people try to draw, they don’t draw what they actually see; they draw what they think should be there. For example, when a beginner draws a chair, it’s not uncommon for them to draw all four legs the same length. After all, everybody knows that chair legs must be the same length or the chair will fall over. However, depending on your angle, the chair legs will not all appear the same length. When learning how to sketch, you must learn to draw what you see.

One of the first exercises I give students in my drawing classes is called blind contour drawing. This is a great way to teach the hand and eye to work together. It’s also a good way to help children learn to draw what they see. What exactly is blind contour drawing? It’s drawing the outline (contour) of an object without looking at the paper.

You may be wondering how anybody can draw something well without looking at the paper. Keep in mind that turning out a beautiful, finished drawing isn’t the purpose of this exercise. The goal of blind contour drawing is to learn to draw exactly what you see, to teach your hand and eye to work together.

How do you do a blind contour drawing? Here are some steps to follow:1. First, choose an object you’d like to draw. For your first

few tries, I recommend drawing something simple, like a coffee mug, a piece of fruit, etc. You want a basic shape, nothing too complex.

2. If you’re right handed, position the object in front of you, but over to the left,

so that you have to turn your head away from your paper to see it. If you’re a left-hander, put the object to the right and the paper on the left.

3. Now, put the tip of your pencil on the paper. Take care to give yourself plenty of room to draw.

4. Look at the object and draw the outside edge of the object without looking at the paper or lifting the pencil from the paper. Try to imagine an invisible cable connecting your eye and your hand. As your eye traces the object, your pencil should move in the same direction. Keep going until you have completely traced the object’s outline. The key here is moving slowly. Don’t try to rush through it. Concentrate on making your hand and eyes work together.

When you’re finished, look at your drawing. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t look anything like the object. Remember: the idea is to train your hand and eye to work together. This takes some practice, but eventually your drawings will resemble the object.

To give you an idea of what a blind contour drawing should look like, here’s one I did of a coffee mug. Notice that the lines don’t all match up and the picture is far from perfect.

Blind contour drawing may be frustrating at first, but if you stick with it, your blind drawings will eventually look less like “chicken scratches” and more like the object you’re trying to draw. And the better you get the more complicated images you can try drawing this way. Even more important, your ability to sketch objects will improve dramatically.

You will have learned the skill of drawing what you see.

YOU

Object

Paper

Right-Handed Setup

Figure One


Don’t get frustrated! Check out a different approach!

Videos, sample pages,

teaching timelines,

and more available at

www.analyticalgrammar.com

Make a difference today!

All I want is a grammar program that will...• Be logical and sequential.

• Not take years and years to complete.

• Leave me PRECIOUS TIME for teaching writing and literature.

• Not start every year at the beginning.

• Get to the end of the subject (there is an END, right?)

• Actually TEACH my child so that he MASTERS it!

Stretch Your “Drawin

g Muscles”Why homeschool? Top Reasons To home School Your children

Paul R. Stone is president of Accelerated Achievement LLC a small home business working to provide homeschooling families with exceptionally high quality education materials at a price within the reach of every homeschooling family. Paul is also a research engineer with a Fortune 50 company and comes from a long line of educators. For more information please visit https://www.accelerated-achievement.com or

Email [email protected].

By: Paul Stone

1. Studies show that home-schooled children average between the 80th and 90th percentile, regardless of the socio-economic background, or educational level of the parents.

2. Great student teacher ratio.

3. Very good communication between the student, teacher and parents.

4. The student can’t lie about their homework.

5. With a class size of one, they can’t copy anybody else’s work.

6. The curriculum is in perfect agreement with the values of the parents.

7. The children will not bring bad habits home from school.

8. The pace of learning will be geared to the ability of each child, not the lowest common denominator.

9. You don’t have to fix lunch in the morning.

10. children will be better adjusted socially if they don’t learn social skills from the street gangs.

11. Without peer pressure, they learn to think for themselves, not just parrot what the “group wants to hear”.

12. every educator agrees that parental involvement is the key to success in a child’s education. how could one be more involved?

13. Your child will never be “just a number” in the classroom.


curriculum

Dear Andrew…Q&A with Andrew Pudewa

ThIS is a question I am often asked, and you’re not alone. Grading is a difficult problem for many of us because we ourselves were shaped by a system compelled to compare children based on age, rather than by an objective standard. Additionally, articulating standards for writing is a very difficult thing to do, as can be seen by the vague and almost useless verbiage seen on most state education standards documents. However, the task becomes clearer if we can see the subject for what it is, a skill.

Unlike facts, which can be memorized, and concepts, which must be developed by discussion, writing is a skill—more like playing a musical instrument, or painting, or dancing, than like other academic subjects. It is something that we do, not something we can learn simply by acquiring information. Therefore it requires coached practice; the only way to learn the skill is to walk a path with the help of a mentor, reaching milestones along the way. And those milestones must become the standard against which the student is assessed.

In this light, assigning letter grades seems somewhat meaningless, given the nature of the activity. My first career as an adult was teaching violin—a skill. Students could start at any age from four to forty and progress at any pace. I never gave violin students letter grades; it would have been unnecessary, even inappropriate. Assessing their progress based on competence of skills at a certain level, I adjusted their pace through the complexity of the repertoire, not based on age or time spent, but on whether they had mastered the techniques taught so far. Their “grade” (if you could call it that) would have always been “A” for “accomplished,” and their acknowledgement was to move on to the next piece in the repertoire.

Therefore, in a perfect world we shouldn’t have to give grades to student compositions, for what would we grade? If we were to give a higher mark to a paper merely because it “sounds better,” we might inadvertently reward one child for natural ability and penalize another for low aptitude—both of which are conditions beyond their control. Conversely, if

how do I grade my children’s writing? I feel

like I should give them some kind of mark or

score, but I’m just not sure how

to decide. What do you suggest?


Andrew Pudewa is the Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a homeschooling father of seven. Presenting throughout North America, he addresses issues relating to teaching, writing, thinking, spelling, and music with clarity and insight, practical experience and humor. His

seminars for parents, students, and teachers have helped transform many a reluctant writer and have equipped educators with powerful tools to dramatically improve students’ skills. He and his beautiful, heroic wife, Robin, currently teach their three youngest children at home in Locust Grove, Oklahoma. For more information please visit www.excellenceinwriting.com.

we were to attempt to give grades based on “effort,” we’d have to be able to get inside the mind and heart of the child, and even then, true objectivity would still be impossible. The only reasonable way to determine a grade in writing would be whether or not the student accomplished the goal with the best effort he could muster.

Therefore communicating the goal is key, which is where rubrics and checklists make the whole process so much more concrete and effective. The more precise the assignment, the more easily the student can know if he has done what was asked, and if he has succeeded, does he really need a grade? If you, the teacher, feel the need to give a grade, shouldn’t it then be “A” for accomplished? In my classes, there are only two grades a student can receive on an assignment: “A” (accepted/accomplished) or “I” (incomplete). I don’t accept anything less than 100%, and students must rewrite until they have included everything on the checklist and it is grammatically correct, though they are welcome to get as much help as needed.

Ideally, every student should complete each writing assignment according to the specifics given by the coach, practicing the process as it needs to be practiced, and becoming ready to proceed to the next level of complexity. Grades, if given at all, should simply acknowledge that accomplishment and serve as an encouragement to the student who will desire to continue down the path of excellence in writing.

That was a long answer, but I hope it helps!


curriculum

It has long been my belief that middle school is the “red-headed step-child” of education. Folks who decide to become teachers come in two varieties: elementary types and secondary types. They’re all teachers, but very different. You’ll notice that I didn’t mention any “middle school types.” Here’s the reason for that:

Most teacher training institutions offer either a secondary or elementary credential. Those who go into elementary education envision themselves surrounded by adorable little moppets who will love them and with whom they can cut and paste and do projects, as they learn to read and do math and so on. Problem is, they go to look for their first job and there aren’t any openings at the elementary level. There are, however, openings at the local middle school. “Oh well,” the new teacher thinks, “a job’s a job.” So he takes the job and then proceeds to teach the middle school kids the way he’s been trained, like they’re just tall elementary school kids.

Now the secondary teacher sees herself having great discussions with kids about history and literature and science and so on. She has no knowledge of, nor interest in, teaching reading; she wasn’t trained that way. Problem is, there aren’t any openings at the local high school, but there are openings at the middle school. “Oh well,” she says, “a job’s a job.” So she takes the job and proceeds to teach the middle school kids as she’s been trained, like short high school kids.

Why, you may ask, are there always openings at the middle school? Do you really need to ask that question? Have you spent much time recently around large groups of middle school kids?

If one is lucky enough to snag a job at the high school or at an elementary school, he hangs onto that job for dear life; whereas, the folks who are working at the middle school get the heck out just as soon as something comes open elsewhere!

Occasionally you find someone, like me, who fully intended to be a high school English teacher but got “stuck” in middle school (although it was still being called junior high back then!) – and then found that she really LOVED it! It does happen, but not a whole lot!

So I spent 34 years teaching middle school kids, and I developed a pretty clear idea of what I think middle school language arts is – or should be – all about and what the middle school learner is capable of and needs to do.

Middle school is variously described as grades six through eight, sometimes grades seven through nine, and sometimes just grades seven and eight. From the perspective of a language arts teacher, one can usually assume that the learner has some basic skills, like reading and writing. One cannot assume, however, that this learner is ready to read The Great Gatsby and get into an involved discussion about what F. Scott Fitzgerald really meant in writing that book. So your curriculum has to be somewhere in the middle of that. So what is that?

I want you to visualize your middle schooler wearing an empty tool belt. That tool belt is strapped on securely, but there’s nothing in any of the handy little slots. Your job, as a middle school teacher, is to fill that tool belt. You need to fill it with the “tools” necessary for your learner to do high school level English work.

By: Robin Finleythe Middle school “Tool Belt”

literature

GRAMMARESSAY

Middleschool

writing usage

vocabulary

spelling

punctuation


So what’s high school level English supposed to consist of? To put it bluntly, it should consist of literature and writing. In other words, the student reads and then reacts to what he or she has read through writing. It should not consist of daily grammar instruction or spelling or handwriting.

So middle school language arts needs to be where the tools to do high school work are acquired. Grammar should be completely covered, in my opinion, by the end of 8th grade. When I say grammar, I mean grammar, usage, punctuation, and capitalization. This is completely do-able, as I did it myself in my classroom for more years than I care to remember.

Another crucial tool in that tool belt is the essay. A middle school student should be able to sit down and write a good five-paragraph essay within about half an hour. There is more than one kind of essay, and the student needs to know how to write a literary essay, a personal essay, and what I call an “issue” essay, which is one about a current event or life concern.

The final tool is the fully-annotated research paper. That means that the student has learned how to research a topic and write a paper in which he or she documents where all the information came from in the form of parenthetical citations (in my day, those were called “footnotes”). He or she needs to know how to do that and keep all the information and documentation organized.

Now I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t think any literature or spelling or vocabulary is to be taught in middle school. Far from it! Literature and vocabulary are normal offshoots of each other and are part and parcel of teaching the types of academic writing I’ve mentioned. Spelling is always important but is a curricular choice, which must be tailored to the specific kind of speller you have.

As many of you may already know, I do not believe that any substantive grammar can be taught mixed in with writing, literature, spelling, vocabulary, etc. I believe grammar, because of the very linear, sequential nature of the subject, must be taught by itself. That’s why I always taught my grammar in what I called my “grammar season.” Once I had that done, I had at least half my year to do the literature, writing, vocabulary, and so on in a glorious mixture.

As you make your curricular choices, I recommend that you talk to folks who know, like, and understand the middle school learner. Keep that tool belt in mind as you set your goals for those middle school years, and then you’ll have a confident, well-equipped high school student, ready to build the edifice of his own education with his own hands – because he’s got the right tools!

Robin Finley is a veteran middle and high

school language arts teacher. She began writing her course in grammar, punctuation, and usage in 1981 when her Language Arts department refused to purchase any grammar books for her classes, grammar having been deemed “useless” in the

improvement of their writing! She lives in Raleigh, NC, with her daughter Erin Karl, the other half of the AG team, Erin’s amazing husband Rob, and Maddie and Tripp, her two beautiful grandchildren (and her pride and joy!). Robin enjoys nothing more than sharing her materials and her teaching techniques and skills with home teachers in her workshops.

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Send your “what works for your middle school learner” homeschooling story to

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curriculum

I hAVe been asked this question several times by a parent who has several children and is interested in maximizing her time. As an example, let’s say she has a seven-year-old student and another who is eight and a half. Perhaps the seven year old, who I will call Seth, is more adept in math than the eight year old, who I will name Jake. She thinks it will be a good idea to move them along together to save teaching time and energy, and she writes and asks my opinion.

There are several factors to consider, but generally my experience is that this is not a good idea for the following reasons. There is one exception addressed in point 3 below.

Generally one of the students will emerge as the brighter

student and answer most of your questions when you are teaching. In my example, this would most likely be Seth. While Seth is actively engaged with the lesson, Jake will shut down. Classroom teachers have this same dynamic where the brighter students raise their hand and ask questions, while those who are not as quick to comprehend, sit back and observe.

The advantage of tutoring (versus classroom teaching) is that you the teacher, have the ability to teach one at a time, adapt the lesson to his learning style, and move at his pace. When presenting new material one-on-one, you are able to discern more readily if they comprehend what you are teaching. And you will know when they are ready to move to the next lesson.

Is Teaching Multiple children at the Same Time a Good Idea?

By: Steve Demme


Rarely do two students, even if they are identical twins, learn the same way and at the same pace. Since math is a sequential subject, a good teacher will make sure each concept is mastered as you are building their math foundation line upon line and precept upon precept. A student should have 100% understanding before progressing to the next level. My observations have been that one student will score high and the other significantly lower.

When we were teaching our three sons from 12 years old to 7 years old, we taught them reading and math separately. But then we studied other subjects together, such as science or history, using a unit study approach.

If I were in a room full of moms with years of wisdom and experience in teaching Math-U-See, I would ask them this question. I am sure that many have tried to teach two (or more) at the same time and it would be edifying to hear their combined wisdom. I am pretty sure, that while it may work for a short period of time, it will not be beneficial for the long haul.

One place where a mini-classroom approach may work is reviewing what you have learned already. Over the summer, skills will diminish, since what we aren’t using we are in danger of losing. Instead of jumping in where you left off in the spring, print out some worksheets from the

worksheet generator and review addition, subtraction, or multiplication together as a family. Depending on where your students are in their math progression, go back to the previous level(s) and watch key lessons on the DVD and review key concepts. Maybe the young scholars could take turns being the teacher, and teach previously studied concepts to their siblings.

If you have any ideas that have worked for you, feel free to share them on our Facebook page!

Steve Demme and his wife Sandra have been married for 30 years and have been blessed with four sons: Isaac, 30; Ethan, 28; Joseph, 25; and Johnny, 22. With God’s help, they have all been home educated. As a former math teacher who has taught at all levels of math in public, private, and Christian schools, Steve is the founder of

MathUSee and is on the board of Joni and Friends for Eastern PA . He has also served in full and part time pastoral ministry for many years after graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. For more information about teaching math please visit www.mathusee.com.

Send your ideas homeschooling story to [email protected] or www.twitter.com/@TheHomeschool or

www.facebook.com/TheHomeschoolHandbook


inspiration

Educ

ation

WorkLife BalanceGetting to the Heart of the MatterBy: Donna Vail

We live life making choices according to our highest values. How we see the world is based on what is most important to us. Education-work-life balance is no different. It’s all about our value system. If we’re out of balance, we are not living and choosing congruent to our values. Put simply, we are adapting our lives to someone else’s values and not aligned with our own. When we realign our choices in respect to our highest values then we sense a feeling of fulfillment and return to balance.

How do we achieve this balance? First, determine what your highest values are through a simple 12-step questioning process I use with my clients. Begin by asking yourself the first set of questions; what do you fill your life with, where do you spend the most time, how do you spend your energy and how do you spend your money? These will begin to

reveal to you your highest values.“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and

expecting different results.” –Albert EinsteinOnce you’ve identified your values you can consciously

choose accordingly in the seven areas of your life: spiritual, mental, vocational, financial, familial, social and physical. Taking time each month to create goals congruent with your values and prioritizing tasks will enable you to accomplish goals bringing balance and fulfillment to your life. When you live life according to your values you are valuing yourself. In the process you begin to develop a literacy of other people’s values enabling you to honor theirs creating more fulfilling relationships.

“Every phase of your life prompts you to become clearer on your inspired destiny.” – Dr. John F. Demartini


?language?

in theirGod’s Wordhear

Donna Vail is the Founder of An Inspired Education, a company devoted to empowering families around the world to a lifestyle of true freedom through homeschooling, inspiration and entrepreneurship. Donna and her husband have homeschooled their six children for the past 16 years and now help today’s homeschoolers find their way. For more about her company, visit http://www.aninspirededucation.com.

When you are living according to your values, you are inspired towards your life’s purpose providing a sense of balance. Being in balance doesn’t mean every area of life is equal. As we flow through life we are at times experiencing quantum leaps in growth followed by periods of rest and recovery. You will notice this pattern more apparent in all of the most highly successful people, musicians, and athletes.

Your life unfolds for you and your family through everyday living and learning when you homeschool. Homeschooling supports our natural inclination to seek clarity and fulfillment of purpose. As we model an inquisitive mind, we encourage and inspire our youngsters to do the same. This is the natural process of learning and our children are living this daily right before our eyes. As a result, they are able to learn more easily and are likely to become experts in a particular subject or field of interest. As you observe your children exemplifying this behavior, the realization of infinite potential in life rings clear. Their hunger for learning and opportunity will inspire you and beg the question to be asked of yourself… “How hungry am I to grow and learn?”

When you are living according to your highest values, chosen accordingly in all seven areas of your life, you are modeling for your child education-work-life balance. They need to see this in you. You are their example. You and your children are mirroring back and forth between each other for the greatest support and challenge. This is the beauty of homeschooling. It’s not your typical conventional learning model because it changes the entire family and results in more meaningful living and family learning.

As we move out of the Information Age and into the Creative Age it is much more important to develop these skills…it is the backbone to all that we do and create. This type of clarity and purposeful living will sustain our children no matter what the future holds as they embark on more creative and technological living.

These are the first and most powerful steps towards education-work-life balance. Once you have this foundation determined you can move into managing the fulfillment of your highest values with daily success habits that focus on self and time management, education excellence, creating true balance, and regular quality time in relationships, time off and creative time.

“If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.” –Joseph Campbell

Parents Inspired to Action:Determine your values. When faced with a choice or decision choose in favor of your

highest values. Once this is determined review monthly the seven areas of your life and create goals in respect to your values. Allow yourself to experience the natural flow of life where you’re fully engaged making quantum leaps followed by time periods of rest and recovery. Modeling this for your children is the most effective way of teaching. You can add on all kinds of programs but their mirror neurons in the brain will keep learning what you are modeling no matter what you are saying.

Children Inspired to Action:As you begin choosing according to your highest values you will become literate

of others highest values and those especially of your children. Honoring their highest values and linking them to their curriculum will help you navigate to guiding them in their learning. This will generate greater respect in your relationships relieving the struggles you may have been experiencing. You can also help older children begin creating goals inspiring them to success. They will experience their own quantum leaps followed with periods of rest and recovery.


inspiration

After several more weekend visits with Grandpa, it was clear to Kate that something was wrong with him. She went to her mom and said, “Grandpa keeps repeating himself; he can’t seem to remember what he just did. I saw him yell at Grandma, and then this morning he didn’t remember my name. Mom,” she said, “what’s happening to Grandpa?”

—What’s Happening to Grandpa? -By Maria Shriver and Illustrated by Sandra Speidel

FInDInG out that a family member has Alzheimer’s disease is just the beginning. What’s wrong with grandpa or grandma isn’t going to get better, which means that family life is going to change for everyone.

Living with AD gets increasingly difficult for patients and caregivers—and children—but it can be a whole lot easier if the entire family understands what they’re up against and navigates the illness together. Armed with informed minds and open hearts, loving someone with Alzheimer’s disease can be a memorable experience.

As any parent knows, kids love to ask questions and expect their mothers and fathers to have the answers. Unfortunately, even though Alzheimer’s affects more than 5 million Americans, the disease remains something of a mystery. The good news is that genuinely helpful information—for kids and grownups—is readily available. We may not be able to say why grandpa or grandma got AD, or when a cure will be found, but we can learn from other families who’ve faced the same diagnosis with courage and creativity.

Talking with Kids about Alzheimer’s disease

• Sad about changes in a loved one’s personality and behavior• Confused or afraid about why the person behaves differently• Worried that the disease is contagious and that they will get it• Worried that their parents might develop the disease• Angry and frustrated by the need to repeat activities

or questions

• Guilty for getting angry or being short-tempered with the person

• Jealous and resentful because of the increased amount of time and attention that is given to the person with Alzheimer’s

• Embarrassed to have friends or other visitors to the house

When children learn that a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease, they may feel:

Courtesy of the Alzheimer’s Association, Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Understand Alzheimer’s disease. Available online, with other resources, at http://www.alz.org/living_with_alzheimers_just_for_kids_and_teens.asp

By Nancy Stearns Bercaw


Nancy Stearns Bercaw is a writer in Vermont. Her work has appeared in publications from the Korea Herald to the New York Times. You can follow her blog, “Brain in a Jar,” at braininajar.net or email her at [email protected].

Talking with Kids about Alzheimer’s disease

A great starting off point is Maria’s Shriver’s work with children and Alzheimer’s disease, inspired by her own father’s illness. Shriver’s book, “What’s Happening to Grandpa?” is about a child named Kate who copes with her grandfather’s forgetting by making a scrapbook of his life. Shriver’s award winning film, “Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?” (part of the Alzheimer’s Project for HBO) offers practical advice about how grandkids can manage the experience of having a loved one with AD. What’s more, these stories of real-life families—featuring children of all ages—offer tears, comfort and inspiration. Watching with my seven-year-old son opened new floodgates and discussions even though AD has been part of our family for years.

Younger kids tend to have trouble understanding the concept of “memory.” So, for the 8-and-under set, I highly recommend the book, “Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge,” by Mem Fox, about a young boy who lives next door to a nursing home. Wilfrid’s favorite friend there is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, who also has four names.

When Wilfrid finds out that Nancy has lost her memory, he asks the other old folks what a memory is. The answers prompt him to gather up his own memories—seashells collected long ago last summer, a feathered puppet, and a warm egg fresh from the hen—and give them to Nancy, who then recalls her own memories.

Regardless of the optimistic ending, or maybe because of it, Wilfrid is a great conversation piece. Kids can share their own memories about a sick grandparent; discuss the concept of memories loss; and, open up about their sadness that memories don’t come back to AD patients. As difficult as conversations about memory loss can be, they also can foster personal missions—like Kate’s photo album and Wilfrid’s memory box.

Ask your child(ren) to create their own scrapbook or memory box and fill it with reminders about the good times with grandma or grandpa. By doing so, treasured times are always available to review and share with other people—even the loved one with Alzheimer’s. Parents, be sure to clarify that lost memories won’t return by looking at souvenirs from the past. Instead, emphasize that shared experiences can fill a room with love. And while Alzheimer’s patients might not be able to recall or express emotion, they can still feel it.

Children also have questions about what their role with a loved one with AD will be. Many of the answers depend upon where the patient is located and the progression of their illness. But whether a loved one is in a memory care facility or at home, the hardest job of all can be trying to pass the time in a meaningful way with them. Kids need to know what to say or do. After a few kick-starters, they’ll be full of their own ideas—and you’ll be taking cues from your kids. My son is more creative, and patient, with his grandpa than I am. They actually play together—something I’ve forgotten how to do.

The Alzheimer’s Association and Maria Shriver have good suggestions for joint activities: walking, baking, gardening, and painting. Best of all, however, is reading books. Regardless of

their degree of decline, patients with AD enjoy hearing voices and stories. The very books your children read to themselves are perfect for sharing, especially if they have illustrations. Likewise, music is a great way for the entire family to bond with grandpa or grandma. Play their favorite tunes, as well as yours, every evening at “happy hour.” And by all means, sing along and dance!

Famed neurologist Oliver Sacks reports that “responsiveness to music is an essential part of our neural nature.” In other words, people feel music in their souls. No thought required. Sack’s book, “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain,” is an insightful romp into the strange and wondrous power of a melody.

Perhaps the greatest lesson you can share with your children is that Alzheimer’s disease can teach us things we don’t necessary want to learn. Memories can be made and saved even when times are hard. Taking care of a sick loved one, albeit painful, is a privilege not a punishment. One day, your family will recall that what happened to grandpa brought you together in profound ways. Maybe you’ll even make your own book, or film, about the experience.

By Nancy Stearns Bercaw


special needs

homeschooling your special needs child

By: Cyndi Ringoen

MAnY families that are very committed to homeschooling begin to doubt themselves when it comes to homeschooling a special needs child. Whether you are an experienced homeschooler or a new homeschooler, it is quite disheartening when you realize that your child is not learning reading, writing and math at an acceptable pace. In addition, as an adult who loves learning and has a strong desire to pass this love on to your children, it is difficult to watch your child begin to dislike learning, as it becomes a huge effort for them to progress only a small amount. You and your child have both had many days of tears in frustration. You begin to feel completely inadequate in your teaching role and you begin to wonder if perhaps the school system could do a better job. In reality, it is a very rare situation that a school system can do a better job for your special needs child than you as a parent can. It is easy to blame a learning difficulty on a parent, as if the child will magically lose this difficulty by being in a school system. In a school system people have lots of letters behind their names and you might have access to many ‘therapies’ (O.T., P.T., Speech), which can appear to provide more than you as a parent can. But the question almost never asked is, “What are the outcomes of children in the special education system in schools?” Usually you will find that once a child is ‘labeled’ and in the special education system no one expects them to get out of it. In other words, the overall potential of a child is looked upon as limited. Depending on the label they receive they are put in a box where they will be offered only those opportunities which professionals have decided are appropriate for them. On the other hand, most parents have a strong desire for their children to be able to tap into all of their God given intelligence and potential and overcome their difficulties. The thing that teachers do not learn in school is how the brain works or how it learns. As a parent, you can learn how your child learns best and teach to them in those ways. At the same time,

you can learn what your child’s weaknesses are and then work to overcome those.

What about the need for therapies? If your child is in need of specific therapies for physical, occupational or speech delays, then the best type is where you have a professional that interacts with you or your child once or twice a month for the purpose of showing you activities you can do on a daily basis at home with your child. The reason for this is because in traditional school therapy your child might get a l/2 hour a week of physical therapy. But the brain learns best and quickest when it has developmentally appropriate stimulation with adequate frequency, intensity and duration. This means that the best progress is made when stimulation is given multiple times a day, with high intensity (so the brain is aware and interested) and with short durations so that the input doesn’t become boring. Almost all therapy activities can be taught to parents so that they can apply them daily, and in this way the child actually makes faster progress than they would at therapy once a week.

If your child is falling behind academically in their reading, writing, math, or spelling then most parents want to know how to help their child succeed and catch back up to their peers. In a school setting the idea of accelerating learning so that a child can ‘catch up’ is unheard of. The fact that a child is struggling usually is tested, labeled and then used as an excuse as to why the child cannot perform at a typical level. Teachers know a lot about curriculum but they are not taught about how the brain learns, how to improve memory, or how to accelerate learning ability. As a parent, if you find out these basic things about your child, you will then be able to successfully teach them at home. The first thing you don’t want to do when teaching a special needs child is to become like a school. You will need to individualize your teaching methods and your supplies for your child. Your next job is to begin learning how to teach specific subjects in ways


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homeschooling your special needs child

that the brain learns the best and retains the best. Focus on the basics first and branch out as you become more confident.

Tips for Spelling: From a neurodevelopmental perspective spelling is best taught after a child is a proficient reader. However, many grandparents of homeschoolers really need to see a child spelling correctly early on. If you can hold off then we do not push spelling until a child’s reading level is about 5th -7th grade—because you need to have seen the printed words many times in order to recall what it looks like. If you can’t hold off, then there are some ways that it will work easier. For the most part spelling is a visualization ability. If you watch the national spelling bee, all of the children are exceptional at visualizing the words--- they look up in the air as if they are reading the letters, they write them in the palm of their hand with their fingers—in other words, they see the words in their heads (visualization). This is an efficient way to teach spelling. Each week you can try 10 or 20 words – print them each clearly with black felt pen on a 3x5 card (one word each card). The child can do the activity themselves, but it must be supervised for errors. Child takes a card—points to the word and reads it aloud (horse), then the child touches each letter with their finger as they say each letter—h—o—r—s—e and they say the word again (horse). Then they put the card down and look up into the air and touch each letter in the air and say it (trying to see it). H---o---r---s---e and say it again (horse). They go through the stack of cards 1-2x’s probably 2x’s a day. In addition, you can have them print the words for practice. NEVER have your children practice their spelling words in cursive, you do not visualize in cursive and therefore it is not helpful for retaining how to spell the words.

Teachers know a lot about curriculum but they are not taught about how the brain learns, how to improve memory, or how to accelerate learning ability.

Cyndi Ringoen, ICAN Certified Neurodevelopmentalist, mother of 6 children and 12 grandchildren. Working in the field of Neurodevelopment since 1983, as a homeschooling parent, foster and adoptive parent, volunteer branch director and certified neurodevelopmentalist with degrees in Developmental and Applied Psychology. She is the owner of CAN-Do Inc. and currently travels the U.S. conducting functional neurodevelopmental assessments

and writing individualized home programs for parents to implement with the children. For more information please visit www.ican-do.net or email Cyndi at [email protected].


health & hearthHomemade Crackers for Toddlers: Alternative to Goldfish Crackers!

My 3 year old used to love Goldfish crackers. Every time she asked for a snack, she would ask for Goldfish. Personally I don’t really care for them, and have often wondered why toddlers love them so much. And I finally realized why. It is because we have encouraged our children to love them by having them available in every situation of their little lives…at home, on the road, at church, at friend’s houses, at preschool…and on and on! For some reason it is the go-to snack cracker for little kids. They are packed full of preservatives and they really aren’t even good!

These homemade healthy snack crackers may replace our old friend Goldy…These are packed with nutrients and are delicious (for toddlers and adults alike)! The great thing about homemade crackers is that you can change up the recipe and make them different every time.

Here are a couple of ideas to try:Try adding different cheeses to change the flavor Garnish with different types of nuts or seeds (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, crushed almonds, etc.)Try different herbs – fresh or dried – or don’t use herbs at all!

THIS IS THE RECIPE I USED ON THIS BATCH:In a food processor or blender add the first 5 ingredients:1 cup ..................... whole wheat flour1/2 cup ................. oatmeal, blended until fine in a blender or food processor3 tablespoons ....... wheat germ1/4 tsp. ................. salt1 tbs. .................... finely chopped fresh herbs- OPTIONAL

(I used dried basil & they were delish)1/3 cup ................. water1/4 cup ................. olive or other oil

1 cup .................... shredded cheddar cheese

Then add the water, olive oil and cheese. Blend – the dough should come together into a ball. You can add more water or oil if the dough seems to dry.

Roll the dough out as thin as possible on a floured surface. Cut out shapes using a knife or cookie cutter.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet (or silpat or parchment paper) and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes – until they start to turn golden.

Serve to your snacky little toddler. Devour and feel happy about knowing exactly what they are eating!

By: Natalie Monson

Natalie Monson is a Registered Dietitian who specializes in helping people develop healthy eating habits. Aside from chasing her two little girls around, she has a passion

for helping families live a healthy lifestyle through good food choices and being active.


health & hearth

Essential Vitamins: Purpose Which Foods Have it?

A Keeps our eyes, skin, teeth, & bones healthy! Yellow and orange foods like carrots.

B Converts food into energy! Meats, nuts, fish, dairy

C Heals wounds, fights bugs! Citrus fruits

D Essential for strong bones and teeth! Milk, Dairy and The SUN!

E Keeps our Heart Healthy and arteries clean! Nuts, avocados, pumpkin

K Keeps our blood healthy & clotting properly! Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, eggs.

Kids are smart! Teaching them what healthy food can do for them is an inspiring way to get them excited about eating good food. One thing I love to teach when I’m visiting classrooms is about which Vitamins are essential, and WHY we need them! Not only do the kids get it, they start looking for foods they need for the essentials. So, it’s vital to talk Vitamins!

To start, I have different foods that are high in essential vitamins (or photos or flashcards). The discussion starts with: “Essential Vitamins are the ones that our bodies can not make itself. We must get these vitamins from foods! This is why it’s so important to eat foods that have essential vitamins. These include:”

Teaching Kids the ABc’s of essential Vitamins

VITAMIN C ExPERIMENTYou will need:1/2 teaspoon ........ cornstarch1 cup .................... waterIodineMore waterEye dropperMedium sized bowlSeveral smaller bowlsCrushed vitamin C tablet dissolved in 1 cup water Various beverages orange juice, orange soda, cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, punch, etc.

Mix 1/2 tsp. cornstarch into 1 cup cold water; dissolve mixture by heating. Measure 1-cup water into a bowl. Add 1 tsp. of the cornstarch mixture. Using an eyedropper add 4 drops of iodine and stir. The mixture should be a pale blue. Put 2 Tbs. of the mixture into several small bowls. Using a clean eyedropper add the Vitamin C solution to one of the blue mixtures. In another bowl add orange juice, another orange soda, etc. Make note of how many drops it takes before the blue color disappears. Discussion: Only foods with

vitamin C will make the blue color disappear. The punch and orange soda do not have vitamin C.

If a food does not have vitamin C the solution will not change color 1 .

By: Amy Roskelley

Amy Roskelley, founder of SuperHealthyKids.com, is a mom of three and graduated from Brigham Young University’s Health Promotion program. She counseled Department of Health employees on healthy lifestyles for ten years. SuperHealthyKids.com

has won the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Blog of the Month in January 2011. She lives in Lehi, UT with her family.

1Courtesy of: Utah State University, Utah Counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating Utah State University Extension www.usuextslco.org


organization

Top 12 Organizing Tips

No matter what area you’re organizing or how much space you have, follow these 12 simple tips to create a well-organized, efficient space.

1. Start in one placeIf you have several areas in your home you

want to get under control, start with just one. You decide which one to start with — is it the area that gives you the biggest headache, or the area that guests to your home most easily see? Whatever your priorities, select one area and stick to it. Many attempts at organization fail when the task of cleaning up the entire house seems daunting and folks give up. When you complete one area, celebrate and then move on to the next.

2. Allow plenty of timeDon’t expect organization to happen

overnight. Depending on the area to be organized, schedule a couple of hours each day to work on getting the area organized. Getting a garage whipped into shape will take more time than it takes to organize a linen closet.

3. Clean houseOnce you’ve selected an area, go through

the contents. Donate or hold a garage sale for anything you don’t or can’t wear or use any more. Use the two-year rule of thumb — if you haven’t worn it in two years, it’s time to say goodbye to it. These items take up valuable space and probably won’t be missed.

Tips Provided By: The C

ontainer Store


4. Take inventoryAfter you’ve removed extraneous items, take a look at

what remains. Does it belong here? Does it make sense to keep it here? Is there another place where you’ve got more room to keep it, or another area where it would be more easily accessible for it’s purpose? For example, take that professional-grade mixer that you’ve been keeping in the back of your closet and move it to the kitchen. When it’s time to tackle that area of the home, you can incorporate the mixer into the new storage plan for the kitchen.

5. Look for wasted spaceIf you’re in need of more storage space, think creatively

about additional areas that you can put to work. Prime examples include over doors and underneath beds. These areas are valuable real estate in your home and are often overlooked.

6. Maximize vertical spaceIf you don’t have a lot of room to work with, a surefire way

to instantly create more space is to go “up.” Instead of only having a couple of shelves to house your kitchen items, take them up to the ceiling to really maximize the vertical space — you’ll store the things you need less frequently on the higher shelves.

7. Divide the spaceBy adding additional shelves to a single shelf,

or by using containers that stack atop one another, you can divide the vertical space and make efficient use of the area you have to work with. By dividing the space, you eliminate the possibility of stacking tall piles of clothing, papers or other items that are destined to topple over.

8. Keep it movingConsider storage options on wheels: to allow for

greater flexibility and to help keep the clutter under control. Carts can hold an assortment of accessories in a small amount of space, and can be wheeled back into a closet or storage area when not in use.

9. Organize with colorWhether you’re working to organize the family

room or striving to get your home office under control, use color to enhance your efforts. Assign each child a different colored container to keep his or her belongings in and keep them responsible for cleaning up after themselves. Organize projects, bills and other important papers by function and color in your home office.

10. VisibilityThe three rules to organization are visibility, accessibility

and flexibility. Choose containers that are either transparent or that you can easily label to help immediately identify the contents and will help save valuable time.

11. AccessibilityMake sure that the items you need most often are the

easiest to access. Likewise, place the items you don’t need to get to as often on a higher shelf or in another area.

12. FlexibilitySelect a storage system that can adapt to your changing

needs. That way, you can reconfigure and reuse solutions to solve a variety or storage and organization problems.

The Container Store stands for ‘organization with heart’ and recently celebrated its 13th year on FORTUNE magazine’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” The Container Store continues to give back to the community with a focus on supporting nonprofits that promote women’s and children’s wellbeing and health. For more information and ideas, please visit www.containerstore.com

Top 12 Organizing Tips

Maximize vertical space

Organize with color


extra activities

Spring Has Sprung

What says spring more than a nest full of baby blue birds? This baby blue birds craft is a great way to use up those plastic Easter eggs after the chocolate has been eaten. To complete this craft children will have to use their cutting and painting skills. With some few simple craft supplies kids can make their own spring nest.

SUPPLIES:• Plastic egg (one half for each bird) • Construction paper • Paper plate • Brown paint • Paintbrush • Scissors • Glue

By Sandra Volchko


Sandra is a Registered Nurse, a Mother of two, and the founder of www.busybeekidscrafts.com, a free resource for children’s crafts and activities. Sandra created this online resource to share with the world creative and inexpensive ways to spend quality time with children while at the same time teaching them valuable skills.

Spring Has Sprung

SUPPLIES:• Plastic egg (one half for each bird) • Construction paper • Paper plate • Brown paint • Paintbrush • Scissors • Glue

STEP 1 STEP 2

STEP 5

STEP 6

STEP 3

STEP 4 DIRECTIONS:1. Paint your paper plate brown. If your plate has a waxy

finish on it you may need to put on 2 coats of paint.

2. Now you will make your baby birds. Fold a small piece of orange construction paper; cut out a triangle on the fold, this will make the bird’s beak.

3. From construction paper cut out two wings for each of your birds. Make a small fold at the bottom of each wing, this will give your a place to put the glue.

4. Glue your beak and wings onto your birds. Most plastic eggs have air holes on them, which will look great as your bird’s eyes. If your eggs don’t have air holes, you can draw some on with a permanent marker.

5. Put some glue on the bottom of your eggs and glue your birds into their nest.

6. Cut some brown strips of paper.

7. Glue the brown strips around the lip of the paper plate.

Keep your plastic Easter eggs around; you can make so many fun crafts with these eggs. String them together through the air holes to make a bendable snake. Turn them upside down and glue to a circle of craft foam to make a teacup. Use your imagination!


columns

Yum…Yum… Yummy… Spring Flower Pot Dessert

product spotlightsBy: Jillian Riley

Have you ever had a flowerpot dessert? They are so good, and so much fun. These silly pots are one of my favorite childhood memories. I was excited to share them with my kids…and now with you!

What you need: terracotta pots ~ fake flowers ~ chocolate pudding ~ gummy worms ~ chocolate cookies

1. Start by washing the pots and flower stems really well.

2. Stick a piece of the cookie to the bottom of the pot. This will cover the hole.

3. Scoop in some chocolate pudding.

4. Put the chocolate cookies into a plastic bag. Smash a little

5. Mash a little.

6. Sprinkle the cookie crumbs on top of the pudding.

7. Add a flower and a worm.

Serve them up…and ENJOY!

Jillian Riley is a mom to two fun, fast and (because she’s slightly bias) fabulous kids! She is a teacher. Besides a love for her kids (and well just kids in general) she has a degree in early childhood and 10 years experience as a preschool teacher. Right now her “students” call her mom. Please visit her at www.amomwithalessonplan.com for more great ideas.

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columnsproduct spotlights

MY FATheR’S WORlD FROM A TO Z, SecOnD eDITIOn

My Father’s World is pleased to announce the recently released second edition of our highly celebrated, much loved kindergarten program, My Father’s World From A to Z. This complete kindergarten curriculum retains the core program families have been enjoying since 1990, with some enriching additions. We are thrilled to now include grid lesson plan charts for each unit, more easy-to-do hands-on activities, expanded Bible lessons, and thematic math sheets. An extensive booklist for each unit with many new Book Day storybooks (new in 2011) is included. Updated Student Sheets can be used with either first or second edition Teacher’s Manuals.

For more information, including how to upgrade your first edition manual, or to order, please visit www.mfwbooks.com.

PASSPORT TO The WORlDWinner of the USA Book News “Best Books 2011”

Awards in the ‘Children’s Religious’ CategoryTravel the World in the Comfort of Your Own Home,

encountering people and places all over the world, including facts about countries, their capital cities, maps, flags, populations, and religions. This is a fun and fact-filled adventure you can share with others through interactive games included in the back of this book and in your very own passport. Now, grab your passport and get ready, steady, and go!

For more information or to order, visit www.nlpg.com.

IMPAcTInG cUlTURe: eVOlUTIOn-FRee ReSOURceS

My Father’s World has had the privilege of influencing secular publishers to edit the content of their books. Walking along side these publishers, MFW’s editorial team has been able to change evolutionary language to more neutral language acceptable to most audiences. The following My Father’s World resources have been revised: The World of Animals, MFW edition; The World of Science, MFW edition; Illustrated World Atlas, 2011 edition; Great Animal Search, 2009 edition; Living World Encyclopedia, 2009 edition; Learn about Pyramids, 2010 edition or newer; and History of the World, MFW edition. Check out these wonderful books today!

For more information or to order, visit www.mfwbooks.com.

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Did you know:

The language journey began just over

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Your A to Z Guided Language Tour

Craig Froman

WORLDWORLDPASSPORTto the

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resourcesADVERTISERS:Page # Company/Title Author Web Address

IFC HSLDA www.freetohomeschool.org

5 Sonlight www.sonlight.com/hhcat

11 Steve Henderson Fine Art www.stevehendersonfineart.com

15 Memoria Press www.MemoriaPress.com

19 ACE – Accelerated Christian Education www.aceministries.com

21 Analytical Grammar www.analyticalgrammar.com

23 Math-U-See www.mathusee.com

25 Excellence in Writing www.excellenceinwriting.com/PAL

27 Dynamic Literacy www.dynamichomeschool.com

29 God Word For The Nations www.gwftn.org

31 The LINEN Project [email protected]

33 Triangle Education Assessments, LLC www.TriangleEd.com

IBC The Homeschool Handbook Magazine ™ www.thehomeschoolhandbook.com

BC My Fathers World® www.mfwbooks.com

Contributors:

8 Mom and the Terrible, Horrible… Dawn Hudson www.mfwbooks.com

10 Genetic Permutations Carolyn Henderson www.middleagedplague.areavoices.com

12 Why Our Children Should Learn… Sarita Holzmann www.sonlight.com

14 What is Classical Education? Martin Cothran www.memoriapress.com

17 Getting Where You Want to Go Katie Sullivan www.katieslanguagecafe.blogspot.com

18 Table Manners, Part 1 Monica Irvine www.theetiquettefactory.com

20 Art Tip: Stretch Your Drawing Muscles James H. Pence www.jamespence.com

21 Why Homeschool? Paul Stone www.accelerated-achievement.com

22 Dear Andrew Q & A Andrew Pudewa www.excellenceinwriting.com

24 The Middle School “Tool Belt” Robin Finley www.analyticalgrammar.com

26 Is Teaching Multiple Children… Steve Demme www.mathusee.com

28 Education, Work, Life Balance… Donna Vail www.aninspirededucation.com

30 Helping Children Understand… Nancy Stearns Berca wwww.braininajar.net

32 Homeschooling Your Special Needs… Cyndi Ringoen www.ican-do.net

34 Homemade Crackers for Toddlers… Natalie Monson www.myhealthymealplans.com

35 Teaching Kids the ABC’s of Essential… Amy Roskelley www.superhealthykids.com

36 Top 12 Organizing Tips The Container Store www.containerstore.com

38 Spring Has Sprung Sandra Volchko www.busybeekidscrafts.com

40 …Yummy Spring Flower Pot Dessert Jillian Riley www.amomwithalessonplan.com

Product Spotlights:

41 My Father’s World From A to Z, 2nd Edition www.mfwbooks.com

Passport to the World www.nlpg.com

Impacting Culture: Evolution-Free Resources www.mfwbooks.com

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Solid Academics Integrating a Strong Biblical Scope and Sequence

MY FATHER’S WORLD

Preschool

Activity Cards

To accompany the Lauri educational toys in the MFW Preschool Package

®

MY FATHER’S WORLD® CURRICULUM

9th Grade through 12th Grade

3rd Grade through 8th Grade

Preschool through 2nd Grade

We Help You Complete the Journeyfrom Preschool through High School

Documents

The Homeschool Handbook